Awkward Hero
by Talespinner69
Summary: Lori Loud's tween years weren't the best years for her, socially speaking. However, something that happens during her seventh grade year at RWMS can change everything for the better. Or worse, depending on what the nerdy and awkward twelve-year-old Loud girl does. (Rated T to be safe and for future content)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Awkward Hero

Chapter one: A break from hell

A punch in the gut. An elbow to the side of the face. A backhanded fist slam to the eye. She was outnumbered two to one, but she wasn't taking any hits at all. These cowardly girls-she hesitated referring to them as such-were the ones on the receiving end of her Odin-blessed fury. How dare they pick on an innocent fellow student! She would show them better! She would personally bring Ragnarok down upon them!

The two sixth-grade girls stumbled back a few steps, putting them both a few feet away from Allison Ace, feared as the toughest girl not just in Royal Wood Middle School's sixth-grade year, but throughout _all_ of Royal Woods Middle School. And these two bullies would be given a good amount of first-hand experience on why crossing the Ace girl was a terrible idea if one's main goal was to make sure that they didn't get torn to shreds.

Allison herself was unmistakable throughout the halls of RWMS; yellow-blonde hair that was long enough to be bound in twin pigtails that fell down the back of her head, a dark green and somewhat baggy t-shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers with a red stripe on them. To round out her outfit, she wore a red Sherpa hat with tassels hanging down from the earflaps. Allison was also known as the Viking of RWMS, and not without reason.

When someone crossed Allison Ace, they faced a Viking's fury for their troubles.

"I would be hearing your explanation!" Allison shouted at the two bullies, both of which working together was still not a challenge to her. Pointing an accusing finger at the two mean girls, the kind of middle school girl bullies that got into fights rather than be petty vain jerks who relied mainly on talking down to others, Allison continued, "What in the name of Odin entitles you to treat Loud as a cursed pariah from the pits of Hel?!"

"She's a total dweeb, Allison," the first girl bully spat bitterly, "I don't even see why you've taken to acting as her bodyguard! A nerdy-looking loser like her is so not worth the effort of someone of your standing! If anything, you should be joining Reggie and I in shoving Loud into a locker, or head-first into a nearly full trash can!"

"Yeah, Gilda's got a point," the second girl bully, apparently named Reggie, remarked to the Ace girl, "You're the toughest girl in school, and you're just a sixth-grader! Even kids in the seventh and eighth grades fear ticking you off! You could own this place if you didn't let Loud weigh you down!"

Allison gave the girls bullies Gilda and Reggie an unamused scowl. "…You dare suggest that I abandon my warrior's honor?! Have you two no shame?!" Allison took a step towards Gilda and Reggie, making both girl bullies flinch somewhat out of alarm, but everything came to a screeching halt when a boy's voice called out, "Allison, will you quit trying to get yourself into trouble? For crying out loud, it's the last day of the school year!" Allison and the two girl bullies looked over and saw two boys in the same grade as Allison run up.

The first boy had long, pale blonde hair tied back in a single men's ponytail that fell down his back, save for his bangs which were allowed to frame his face. The boy wore a light gray long-sleeved shirt (the sleeve ends hung loosely around the wrists, not cling tightly to them) under a seafoam green men's tank top, a pair of light gray cargo shorts held up with a belt, and a pair of men's sandals. He also had hints of having some sort of Asian heritage.

The second boy was about as tall as the first; he wore a somewhat baggy cream-colored t-shirt, a pair of blue jeans held up with a belt, and a pair of brown shoes. The second boy was also clearly of Hispanic heritage.

Pointing an accusing finger at Allison, the first boy said, "Seriously, Allison. It's the last day of school before we're off for the summer. Can't you behave yourself just for once?"

"These dishonorable trolls are the ones who started it, brother!" Allison responded to the first boy, who was apparently her brother, "They both thought that it would be in good fun to pick on Loud, so I decided to show them what happens when one of evil inclination crosses the path of a true warrior that has been blessed by Odin!" Upon hearing Allison's explanation, the second boy immediately became concerned.

"Wait a minute," the second boy began, "They were picking on Lori?"

"And they'll be picking themselves up by the time I am done with them, Bobby," Allison replied to the second boy, apparently named Bobby. As Allison was explaining herself to the boys that had shown up, Gilda and Reggie were carefully weighing their options; even on her own, Allison was more than holding her own against them. And now two other kids that know Allison has just shown up?

And worse yet, Allison identified the first boy as her brother. That had to mean that she was talking to her younger twin brother Aggro, the boy at school that close to every girl at school had a crush on! If word spread that they got into a scuffle with Aggro Ace, Gilda and Reggie would be singled out by the rest of RWMS's female student population. As tough as they were, Gilda and Reggie did not need to deal with roughly half of the school's student population turned against them.

"Hey, look," Reggie began, getting the attention of Allison, Aggro and that Bobby guy who showed up with Aggro, "You got a point about how it's the last day before summer break. That being said, the more time we waste on this fight, the longer it will take all of us to get out of here so we can all enjoy roughly three months of no school. What do you all say that we back off from each other and get the hell out of here?"

"You shall first return the bag that you stole from Loud," Allison said as she scowled at the two girl bullies, "Then I shall allow the both of you to flee like the mewling cowards that you are." Straightening up somewhat, Allison added, "There is no honor to be gained in trying to attack a foe who has already surrendered."

"I…threw it up into that tree over there," Gilda replied somewhat sheepishly, pointing to a nearby tree. Luckily it wasn't all that tall of a tree; two middle schoolers working together should be able to get one of them up into the tree.

"Then get climbing," Allison snarled at the two girl bullies, making them both flinch.

* * *

Allison, Aggro and Bobby, with the last of that number holding a girl's backpack by one of it's straps, watched as the two girl bullies ran as fast as they could into the horizon. "…I still would have liked to have brought Ragnarok down upon them," Allison commented.

"Allison, no," Aggro replied, "You need to refrain from getting into any and every possible fight you come across. You'll be a bad influence on our younger siblings, not to mention our younger cousins Amy and Alphonse."

"They're just lucky I can't bring Yonfour with me to school," Allison remarked.

"Allison, don't even think about it," Aggro scolded, knowing full well what his older twin sister was talking about when she mentioned Yonfour.

"Umm, Aggro, Aggro's sis," Bobby interrupted, "I hate to interrupt your little sibling chat, but we got to find Lori so we can return her backpack to her."

"She's hiding behind that set of bleachers over there, Bobby," Allison explained as she pointed to a set of metal bleachers that sat on the grass on RWMS property.

…

The three sixth-graders ran over to the bleachers, then walked around to go behind it. There, Bobby and the Ace twins found a girl in their class standing there, shuddering as if she were frightened. She had fair skin and yellow-blonde hair that reached roughly halfway down her neck. This girl also wore a light blue sleeveless top with a white collar, white heart-shaped stud earrings (one in each ear lobe), a pair of glasses, brown cargo shorts, and light blue shoes. This girl also had red hairclips in her hair, was somewhat close to having a unibrow, and…admittedly could do with some anti-acne medicine.

Handing the backpack over to the girl, Bobby said, "We got your backpack back for you, Lori."

Somewhat bashfully, the girl, identified as Lori, received her backpack from the Hispanic boy. "Umm…thank you, Bobby," Lori replied, her voice barely loud enough for Bobby and the Ace twins to hear what she said. Walking up to Lori with a prideful stride, Allison stood next to Lori as she gave her a friendly, if rather powerful, clap on the back that made Lori lurch forward a bit.

"You need not fear, Loud," Allison remarked, "I sent those dishonorable trolls running to their cave with their tails between their legs! Anyway, you should come to me and Aggro's place! The summer is ours, and what better way to kick it off than to consume our fill of good drink? We have plenty of cola, and fighting those bullies gave me a warrior's thirst!" Lori did not know what to make of Allison's invitation. She also did not know what to make of the fact that a girl like Allison wanted to be friends with her at all. Still, Allison was sincere, so Lori figured that if her parents were okay with it, she could go over to the Ace family's place.

Allison was also Lori's only friend, and she didn't want to be rude to her.

"If my parents are okay with me going over to your place, then I'd be glad to come by," Lori replied to Allison's invitation.

"Aha, that's the spirit!" Allison said in a somewhat boastful kind of tone as she gave Lori another powerful clap on the back, "I've been wanting to see if you yourself also have a warrior's thirst!"

"Lori?!" an adult woman's voice called out, "Lori, where are you? Come on, I'm here to pick you up!"

"Dudes, that's Mrs. Loud," Bobby remarked as he recognized the voice.

"Yeah, I have to go over to my mom," Lori said to the others. Looking a little flustered, Lori said, "Umm, thanks again for the help."

"We shall be seeing each other soon, Lori," Allison remarked, "Until then, may Odin keep your way clear."

Lori gave a small but appreciative smile as she nodded in acknowledgement to Allison before turning around and making a dash over to where her mom was calling her from. After Lori took her leave, Allison said, "I know not what manner of sorcery compels others at our school to treat Lori without mercy, but it fills me with disgust." Crossing her arms over her chest, the female Ace twin continued, "If only I knew how to break the curse, then I would-"

"Allison! Aggro!" an adult male voice called out, "Come on! I'm here to pick you up! You two do want to get started on summer break, don't you?"

"Allison, our father's here," Aggro pointed out.

"…Very well," Allison remarked as she turned in the direction the call from her and Aggro's father came from, "I shall contemplate on this matter on the ride home." Allison then proceeded to walk in the direction that the call came from, with Aggro moving to follow his older twin sister. However, before he got a few feet away, Bobby placed a hand on his shoulder, getting him to stop and turn to face him.

"…Yes, Bobby?" Aggro replied, wondering why his best friend stopped him.

"Dude, I…" Bobby began, seemingly nervous, "…You're good with girls around school, aren't you?"

"I am on the receiving end of admiration from most of our school's female student population, if that's what you mean," Aggro said, "But I have no idea why that is. Why are you asking about my confusing popularity with girls?"

"What…what would you do if there was a girl that you had feelings for?" Bobby asked. In response to Bobby's question, Aggro gave his best friend a knowing smile.

"…This is about Lori again, isn't it?" Aggro asked.

"I still have no idea how I can tell her that I like her," Bobby explained, "I mean, what if she rejects me? That would break me, dude!"

"I doubt that Lori would outright reject you," Aggro said, "Given the kind of girl that she is, if you were to confess to her how you felt, she would undoubtedly be overwhelmed by the fact that a boy has a crush on her. But only at first, Bobby. Once she recovers from the shock, however, you having confessed your feelings to Lori would be the best thing to ever happen to her."

"You…you really think so, dude?" Bobby asked.

"I have every reason to believe so, Bobby," Aggro replied, "You just need to have faith in yourself on this one."

"Alright, but I still don't want to take any chances," Bobby remarked, "Can you give me any tips on not screwing up confessing to Lori that I like her?"

"Well I would first start by-" Aggro began, but he was cut off by another call from where his father was at. "…I'm afraid that we'll have to go over this later, Bobby," Aggro remarked, "Until next time, my good man." The male Ace twin then turned around and ran in the direction his father was calling from, leaving the twelve-year-old Santiago boy alone.

"…Yeah…" Bobby said to himself quietly.

* * *

Later, an old looking family van pulled into the driveway of a two-story house that was white with a black roof. Climbing out of the van once it shut off was an adult woman with blonde hair, and coming out of the shotgun seat was Lori. "So, Lori," the adult woman began in an attempt to make conversation with Lori, "How was your last day of school?"

"Let's just say that I'm glad to be home now, mom," Lori replied to the woman, revealed to be her mother Rita. The two women walked to the front door, which Rita opened, then they entered the house.

As soon as they did, a young boy's voice called, "Mom! Lori!" The Loud matriarch and her oldest daughter were soon tackle-hugged by a small white-haired boy wearing an orange shirt and a pair of overalls. "Hey Lori, I'm going to be in the first-grade next school year," the boy said as he looked up at Lori, clearly excited by the prospect of going up a grade, "I'm going to learn so much stuff, and become super-smart, and-"

"Lincoln, sweetie, relax," Rita said to her excited son as she gently laid a hand on his head, getting him to stop, "I know that you're excited to be going into the next grade next year, but you need to relax. You have an entire summer ahead of you, and you ought to enjoy it to the fullest." Turning to face Lori, Rita said, "Would you mind keeping an eye on your younger brother while I'm in the kitchen? Your father is still at his I.T job, so I need to get dinner started."

"Okay, mom," Lori replied, leaving Rita free to head into the kitchen. Once Rita was gone, Lori looked down to Lincoln, and saw that he was looking up at her.

"…Is middle school fun?" Lincoln asked his older sister in a curious tone.

Sighing, Lori replied, "Let's just say that summer break is more fun, Lincoln."

"I'm…still not sure about summer break," Lincoln admitted, sounding mildly confused.

With a mildly amused chuckle, Lori said, "Well this is your first summer break, Lincoln." Gesturing for Lincoln to follow her, Lori said as she proceeded to walk up the stairs to the second floor, "Come on, Lincoln. I'll show you how I made that beaded necklace I was wearing a few days ago."

"Okay!" the young Loud boy replied dutifully as he proceeded to follow his older sister, happy that she was wanting to spend time with him. She was the best big sister in the world, after all.

END, AWKWARD HERO CHAPTER ONE

Author's notes:

So yeah, the idea for this story was milling about my head while I was working on 'Restored Image', another one of my Loud House stories that I have up. This story, in case you can't tell, is set roughly five years in the past, which would make Lori twelve, putting her right back in her tween years. Back during her 'awkward phase', as she called it in the episode 'Anti-Social'. Anywho, more of the Louds will be showing up in the next chapter, and since this story is set five years in the past, that means that Leni is eleven, Luna is ten, Luan is nine, Lynn is eight, Lincoln is six, Lucy is three, Lola and Lana are both one, Lisa is…hey, wait a minute…

This is just the first chapter of this story. If I get enough feedback on it, I'll know if continuing it or not would be a good idea, depending on the kind of feedback that I get.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Awkward Hero

Chapter two: A conversation between siblings

Lori was glad that school was over for the summer; this meant that she had roughly three months away from the hell that was known as Royal Woods Middle School. Summer break was a reprieve from the bullies, both brutish thugs, such as Gilda and Reggie, and from the vain, petty girls who saw themselves as queen bees.

Lori sincerely hoped to never become one of those kinds of girls. Or the other kind, for that matter.

It was early evening, just after dinner, when the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl laid on her bed in the bedroom that she shared with her younger sister Leni. Lori envied her younger sister; despite being something of a ditz, Leni was significantly prettier than Lori, not to mentioned the clothes that Leni wore made Lori's wardrobe look dorky and, in some cases, outdated. Leni's usual outfit consisted of a seafoam green dress and a pair of sandals with green bows on them. Leni would also occasionally sport a pair of simple red stud earrings, one earring in each lobe. Lori had no doubt that, when Leni entered the sixth grade at the end of summer break, the vain, petty girls at school would welcome Leni with open arms, seeing her as one of them due to her looks.

Speaking of Leni, who should have entered the bedroom at that time but Leni herself. "Hi, Lori!" Leni greeted her older sister in her usual friendly and innocent manner, "How was your last day of school?"

"It was…well enough," Lori replied, more or less lying. If it hadn't been for Lori's only friend Allison Ace, Allison's younger twin brother Aggro, and Bobby Santiago, the cutest boy at RWMS and someone who Lori had the biggest crush ever on, getting her backpack back for her after those two bullies Gilda and Reggie took it and threw it into a tree, then Lori would have taken a lot longer getting back home.

It was bad enough that Lori hated being so pathetic, but the last thing she wanted was to make any of her younger siblings upset by revealing that she had been bullied on her last day of sixth grade. Besides which, Leni is going to be a sixth grader after summer break ends. Lori did not want to paint her sister an image of how hellish middle school could be. The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl's only hope is that Leni won't suffer in middle school because she was singled out due to her having such a dorky older sister.

"I can't wait to see what a middle school is like," Leni remarked as she walked over and sat on her bed, "Is middle school, like, bigger than elementary school?"

"It is bigger, yes," Lori replied as she gently closed her magazine before getting up to sit upright on her bed.

"There is something that I'm worried about though," Leni began, a hint of concerned in her tone as she spoke, "Something that has to do with me leaving Royal Woods Elementary." Hearing that her little sister was worried about leaving elementary school behind, Lori herself became worried, fearing that Leni already had bad images of middle school life dancing around in her innocent head.

"What…what is it?" Lori asked, prepared for the worst.

"I won't be there to look after Linky and our sisters," Leni replied. Lori immediately sighed in relief, having been afraid that Leni was worried about being bullied on her first day of sixth grade. And leave it to her ditzy younger sister to fret over their younger siblings being able to manage without their pretty and kindhearted big sister looking after them. Lori knew full well that Leni had a soft spot for all of their younger siblings, especially for Lincoln, their six-year-old little brother. Leni has developed a habit of referring to Lincoln by that cutesy nickname she came up with for him, after all.

"Don't worry, Leni," Lori said in as reassuring of a tone as she could manage at the time, "I'm more than certain that Luna will be more than glad to fill in for you as the oldest of our siblings attending the elementary school."

"Are you sure?" Leni asked as she tilted her head to the side slightly, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I know that Luna totes cares about all of us. But she's rather, like, loud, you know? She might end up frightening our other younger siblings with all of that loud music she plays all the time." Lori nodded in agreement with Leni; about a year ago, their younger sister Luna used to be a rather quiet girl. She even used to look like a quiet girl, too; her brunette hair reached her shoulders, she wore a rather girly light-purple shirt, a basic square patterned skirt, a pair of black slip-on shoes, a pair of white socks with blue stripes that were worn high, and a pair of basic white stud earrings. Yes, Luna was a calm, quiet girl.

Then…Mick Swagger.

Luna went to a Mick Swagger concert as the same quiet girl that Lori and everyone else knew her as, but the concert spat her out as a completely different person. Luna now sported her hair in a pixie cut, and her usual outfit now consisted of a purple shirt with a skull on the chest area, a plaid lavender skirt, a gray belt, high purple boots, a choker around her neck, three black bracelets around each wrist, and she replaced her basic white stud earrings with, of all things, paperclips. Not only did Luna change appearance wise, but she went from being quiet to being loud enough to wake the dead, what with how much she had gotten into music post-concert. Oh, and Luna also occasionally speaks in a British accent now, too.

"At least she knows better than to play her music when mom says that either Lucy or especially the twins are trying to take a nap," Lori pointed out. The twelve-year-old nerdy Loud girl is speaking about the youngest of her family's number. The twins are one-year-old girls named Lola and Lana who look nearly identical, having blonde hair and wearing only diapers. Luckily, they both behave entirely different; Lola tends to be fussy and doesn't enjoy getting or staying dirty for long, and Lana tends to giggle when people gag while changing her, as if she likes grossing people out, or grossness in general.

In a move on Lincoln's part that Leni considered to be absolutely genius, after confirming which of the twins was Lola and which was Lana, he put one small hairclip in the twins' respective hair. Lola's clip was pink and had a mini tiara image on it, whereas Lana's was dark green and had a mini frog face (which was light green) on it. Furthermore, both twins always had a plushy with them. Lola's plushy was a dolly wearing a long-sleeved blouse, a long skirt, and a bonnet. Lana's plushy was a frog. The plushies also help with identifying the twins to a degree; if you hand the frog plushy to a twin and she happily takes it, it's Lana, but if the twin starts throwing a hissy fit because you're trying to hand her the frog plushy, it's Lola. Same principal applies to the dolly plushy, only Lola likes it and Lana will throw a hissy fit if you try giving it to her.

But the twins weren't the only really young Loud siblings; the third sibling that Lori had mentioned is Lucy, her and Leni's three-year-old younger sister. Even before Luna evolved at level nine, Lucy was still the quietest of the Loud sisters, and could give Lincoln a run for his money at being the quietest Loud sibling overall. Lori never recalled ever having heard Lucy cry, and her parents are mildly disturbed with how Lucy would just blankly stare, so they allowed her hair to grow out and cover her eyes. Additionally, Lucy seemed to like dressing darkly, what with how she wears a black t-shirt over a black-and-white striped long-sleeved shirt, black skirt and black shoes. Little Lucy also had somewhat pale skin, and had the uncanny ability of being able to sneak up on others if she wanted. However, this sneaking ability mostly manifests in the form of Lucy waddling up to Lincoln and hugging him from behind. Rita thought that it was beyond cute how much Lucy likes spending time with her big brother.

"So anywho," Leni said to Lori, "Can you give me any, like, tips on what to do when I go to school with you after summer break ends?"

"How about waiting on that until it gets closer to school?" Lori replied. With a knowing sigh, Lori continued, "Leni, you got the whole summer ahead of you. Is there anything you want to do before you go with me to Royal Woods Middle School?" Lori's question made her ditzy younger sister ponder for a few seconds. After that, Leni looked as if she were struck by inspiration, and the change in expression on Leni was picked up on by Lori right away. "Alright, what did you come up with?" Lori asked.

"I wanna try spending as much time as I can with Linky before school starts again," Leni explained, "I'm not going to get to seem him as much because I'll be going to a different school, so I want to get in as much time with our little brother as I can!" Lori smiled gently upon hearing Leni's answer; it figures that the ditzy blonde would want to shower her adorable little brother with attention. Leni said that she doesn't pick favorites, but Lori could tell full well that Lincoln was Leni's favorite sibling.

With a hint of amusement seeping into her smile, Lori replied, "Well if that's the case, Leni, then you're going to have to fight both Lynn and Lucy for playtime with Lincoln." With a look of consideration, Lori added, "Although I'd imagine that Lincoln wouldn't be too quick to pick Lynn over either you or Lucy."

Lynn is Lori and Leni's eight-year-old younger sister, the youngest of the Loud girls that were still older than the only boy Lincoln. Lynn was a rather energetic and competitive child who loved playing sports, and her usual outfit which consisted of a short-sleeved red-and-white jersey style shirt, pair of red track shorts (with white trim), white socks and black tennis shoes helped to drive the point home that the sporty Loud girl loved…well, sports.

Lynn also loved getting one of her siblings to play with her, but whenever one of her siblings did play with her, this ran at least a sixty-two percent chance of Lynn getting in trouble with the Loud parents, Rita and Lynn Sr. (yes, a man named his daughter after himself), because Lynn was either too rough with a sibling that she was playing with, or she accidentally hit a sibling that was playing with her with a ball.

In fact, the aforementioned roughness is part of the reason why Lincoln hasn't played with Lynn as of late. It was hard on Lynn that her little brother doesn't like to play with her as much as he used to, but the eight-year-old athlete's refusal to 'sandbag', as she called it, is the reason why Lincoln was inching farther and farther away from her, and closer and closer to sisters who were gentle when interacting with him, such as Lucy and Leni.

And Lori. Especially Lori.

It never ceased to amaze the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl how her six-year-old little brother admired her so much. Was it because she was the oldest out of all of the siblings, and Lincoln sticks close to her out of some sense of safety? Still, whenever Lori had a bad day at school because of all of the bullying and harassment, coming home only to be greeted by a white-haired bundle of excitement that thinks she's the single coolest person to ever exist in the history of forever never failed to make Lori feel better.

And she appreciated the attention, too; whenever Lori would occasionally crack a joke to Allison, it fell on deaf ears. This isn't because the Viking girl was being mean to Lori or anything, but rather because she often had trouble understanding jokes (her 'warrior' personality being the main reason for this), which usually required either Aggro or Bobby to explain the joke to Allison. On days like this, when Lori got home, she would try the same joke on Lincoln, and every time he heard a joke from his big sister, Lincoln would laugh.

Lori's younger sister Luan is jealous of this, as she sees herself as the family comedian yet Lincoln seldom ever laughs at her jokes and puns. Luan is the last of Lori's younger siblings; the nine-year-old girl wore a yellow dress with a basic square pattern, a black belt, white socks and brown shoes. However, in her pursuit of becoming a comedy legend, Luan has been known to wear a number of things, including a clown costume and a pair of fake glasses with a big plastic nose and a large bushy moustache.

If Lori recalled correctly, Luan hasn't been seen wearing her clown costume in a while, mostly because the last time she wore the thing, it scared Lincoln to the point that he cried and ran to hide behind the nearest person he trusted. Ashamed that she had unintentionally frightened her little brother, Luan had put away the clown costume, and hadn't busted it out in quite some time. Luan couldn't help but wonder if her wearing the clown costume is what turned Lincoln away from her style of comedy.

"Well yeah, I guess you have a point," Leni remarked to her older sister, "I mean, Lynn is, like, totes too rough with Linky."

"Yeah, and thankfully mom and dad saw that, otherwise they'd probably force him to play with Lynn more," Lori remarked. With a shudder, Lori added, "I still remember the scolding that mom gave Lynn when she was playing with a soccer ball in the backyard with Lincoln, and she accidentally kicked the soccer ball into Lincoln's face. And I was certainly _not_ envious when dad came home from work that day and mom told him what Lynn did to Lincoln."

"It was totes heartbreaking to hear Linky cry after getting hit in the face by Lynn's soccer ball," Leni remarked with a regretful look on her face. Leni's expression lightened up a bit and she giggled before saying, "Although it was, like, adorable how Linky stuck close to you for the rest of the day after that. That really showed how you're the best older sibling ever, Lori."

Lori gave a small but appreciative smile. "Thanks, Leni," replied the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl. After about half an hour, everyone in the house settled down to sleep for the night. As she drifted off to sleep, Lori thought about how, despite being nothing at school, here at home, she was something, especially to her little brother.

It gave Lori a comforting feeling before she fell asleep for the night.

* * *

The following morning at another house in Royal Woods, Bobby Santiago was walking through the hallway, minding his own business, when a young female voice called out, "BOBBY!" This made the twelve-year-old Hispanic boy turn around and come face-to-face with a six-year-old Hispanic girl who was wearing a long-sleeved lavender princess dress, a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, a play tiara, and she was carrying a wand. The girl was looking up at Bobby with an expectant look on her face.

With an amused smirk, Bobby said as he pointed to the young girl, "The tiara is a new addition, Nie-Nie."

"I'm having a tea party and you're coming to it!" the six-year-old Hispanic girl said as she pointed her wand at Bobby, trying to leave him with no room to argue.

"Umm, about that, Nie-Nie," Bobby began in a mildly hesitant tone, "I was planning to head over to a friend's place because I needed to ask him something so I can get his advice. I'll play with you when I get back, though. Is that okay?"

"No!" the little girl said in a demanding tone as she stomped a foot, "Mommy said that you would play with me first thing this morning since you hardly ever played with me before we got out of school for the summer!"

"Bobby!" an adult woman's voice called out, the owner of which must have heard the little girl's demanding due to it's volume. A few seconds later, an adult Hispanic woman in a nurse's outfit came walking up to Bobby and the little girl. "Bobby, you can wait until later to see your friend," the woman said, "Besides, I did tell Ronnie Anne that you'd play with her this morning." Seeing that Bobby was looking a little disappointed since his plans were dashed, the woman added with a sympathetic look and in a likewise tone, "Come on, sweetie. Your little sister missed you during all the time you spent at school, and now that you're both off for the summer, she really wants to make up for lost time."

Sighing in a tone that showed he knew he wasn't going to get out of this, Bobby said, "Alright, mom. I'll play with her for a bit. Aggro would probably understand it, given that he goes through similar things with his little sister Astrid." Bobby's agreeing drew a look of approval from the adult Hispanic woman, revealed to be Bobby's mother Maria, and a cheer of delight from the six-year-old girl, revealed to be Bobby's younger sister Ronnie Anne.

…

Bobby sat opposite of Ronnie Anne at a play table in the younger Santiago child's room. On Bobby's left sat a teddy bear and on Bobby's right sat a unicorn plushy. "So, tell me, Bobby," Ronnie and said as she poured her teddy bear a cup of imaginary tea, "Why did you want to go see Astrid's big brother? You did look like something was troubling you." After she set the play teapot down, a look of realization appeared across the young girl's face. Gasping in shock, Ronnie Anne pointed an accusing finger at Bobby as she said in an accusatory tone, "You didn't get into a fight yesterday during the last day of school, did you? Because if you did, then I'm going to tell mom on you!"

"No, no, I didn't get into a fight, Nie-Nie," Bobby replied, "Although Aggro's sister Allison did. But that's besides the point." With a resigned sigh, Bobby said, "I was going to ask Aggro for advice since he's really popular with girls at our school. You see, there's this girl that I have a crush on and-"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Ronnie Anne squealed in an excited tone, interrupting her older brother in the process. Getting up from the kiddy play table, Ronnie Anne grabbed her unicorn plushy by the front legs then spun around in place in an excited manner while saying, "Did you hear that, Mr. Rainbows?! My big brother got a girlfriend! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"She's not my girlfriend, Nie-Nie," Bobby clarified, getting his little sister to stop spinning. "At least…not yet, anyway," Bobby continued in an unsure tone, "I mean, I really like this girl, but I have no idea how to go about telling her how I feel about her. That's why I was going to ask my friend Aggro for help, since he's so popular with girls at school."

"I say you should treat this girl you have a crush on like a princess," Ronnie Anne said as she returned her unicorn plushy to the chair that it was sitting in, "Because if there's one thing that all girls want, it's to be a princess! I should know."

Bobby chuckled a bit in an amused manner, finding humor (and a little bit of wisdom) in his little sister's suggestion. "Thanks for the tip, Nie-Nie," Bobby remarked.

"No problem, Bobby," Ronnie Anne replied. Sitting back down at the play table, the six-year-old Hispanic girl said, "Now then, where were we…"

END, AWKWARD HERO CHAPTER TWO

Author's notes:

Yeah, I figured that introducing the other Loud siblings, as well as establish certain things about them in this story, was rather pertinent. Also, I figured that, since Lori was having a talk with one of her siblings (Leni in this case), then Bobby should also have a talk with Ronnie Anne. I also thought that having a scene in this chapter where a twelve-year-old Bobby was interacting with a six-year-old Ronnie Anne would be adorable.

As a side note, when I was doing research on Luna for when she was brought up in this chapter, there was some discrepancy on if she was nine when she attended her first concert, or if she was in the seventh grade (which has an average age of twelve to thirteen for kids in it) when she attended her first concert. I ended up deciding to go for Luna being nine when she attended her first concert.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Awkward Hero

Chapter three: The ship set aflame

It was the second morning of summer break in Royal Woods, Michigan, allowing the students of the elementary, middle and high schools approximately three months or so of no school. The Loud kids, children of Rita and Lynn Sr. were all up and getting breakfast. Lynn Sr. was already at is I.T. job, leaving Rita alone to look after her nine children, ranging from twelve-year-old Lori to the one-year-old twins Lola and Lana. At least getting breakfast ready for her children wasn't too much of a hassle, given it was pancakes.

After all of the pancakes were made, Rita and her children were all seated at the dining room table to eat. As always, six-year-old Lincoln wanted to sit next to his awesome big sister Lori. And Lucy, the three-year-old, wanted to sit next to her big brother. So, the sole Loud boy ended up being sandwiched between the sister he tries to follow everywhere and the sister who tries to follow him everywhere. Rita thought how it was cute that Lincoln looked up to Lori so much, and she was downright gushing at how adorable it was that Lucy did the same to him.

"So, kids," Rita began in a tone that sounded like it was trying to make conversation, "Do any of you have anything planned today? After all, there's only about one hundred and three days left of summer vacation, and you kids need to find a good way to spend it."

"A friend of mine wanted me to come over today," Lori mentioned, although as soon as she had said that, two people at the table could easily be heard snorting back laughs. Rita looked around the table, and she quickly identified the guilty parties as Lynn and Luan.

Giving both her athletic daughter and her comedic daughter mildly disapproving looks, Rita said, "Luan, Lynn, is there something that you two find funny?"

"Sorry, mom," Lynn replied as she faced Rita while jerking a thumb at Luan, "But Luan here just told me a really funny joke." As she watched Lynn and Luan try to calm down from their laughing, Rita could tell full well that Lynn was lying, that both Lynn and Luan were actually making fun of the idea that their oldest sister could even have a friend. Still, it was too early in the morning to try and start any sort of drama, so Rita decided that she would let this slide for the time being.

Shifting her attention to all of her kids as a whole, Rita continued, "So, anyone else got anything that they're planning to do today?"

"I wanna go play at the park," Lincoln said as he raised a hand. Lucy turned her head, saw that her older brother still had his hand up in the air, and copied him by raising her own hand, the only difference being that Lincoln was raising his right hand and Lucy was raising her left.

"Well I look into seeing if there's time for that today, sweetie," Rita remarked, "But there's always the backyard if we can't go to the park today."

"And you can play sports with me!" Lynn offered.

Shaking his head furiously (an action that Lucy also copied), Lincoln said, "No sports! Your balls are very hurtful, Lynn!"

"Oh, come on!" Lynn replied as she tried to press the matter, "We can even include Lucy! More people means more fun!"

"You just want to hit Lucy in the face with a ball like you did to me that one time!" Lincoln said in an accusatory tone as he pointed at his athletic older sister in a likewise manner, "Besides, Lucy likes drawing and practicing writing more!"

"I will admit that your little sister's a rather dab hand at writing," Rita said to Lynn, "Especially considering that she's only three."

"Oh, come on, mom!" Lynn said in a tone of complaint, "That all sounds boring! Can't you make them play sports with me?"

"No sports!" Lincoln said to Lynn, "You'll just hurt me and Lucy!"

"With all due respect, sweetie," Rita said to her only son, "That _was_ an accident, and you and your little sister should get some time outside running around."

"Ha! In your face!" Lynn said as she pointed at Lincoln in a gloating manner.

"Lynn, watch that tone of yours," Rita said in a scolding tone, making her athletic daughter shrink back a bit. As breakfast continued onward, the other Loud siblings talked about what they were planning to do that day. Lola and Lana did not talk, but that's because they were both babies and neither of them could speak yet outside of baby babble that Luan was surprisingly able to translate. Somehow. At least three conversations were going on at once, leaving Lori out of the loop as she wasn't part of any of them. Still, her younger siblings all seemed to enjoy talking about what they all had planned, and they were all having a good time.

Knowing that she was a part of this group made the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl feel like she was _not_ a loser.

…

As it was summer vacation, Lori didn't have to worry about carrying a backpack full of her school books and various papers she got from school, leaving her free to use her backpack to carry a few things with her when she went over to the Ace residence to hang out with Allison. Just as she got her backpack ready to go, Lori heard an earsplitting scream coming from the backyard. Worried, the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl ran downstairs and over to the kitchen, arriving in the kitchen just in time to see Rita scolding Lynn while Lincoln was hugging a crying Lucy, who was covering her face with both of her hands.

"What happened?" Lori asked.

"Lynn hit Lucy in the face with a ball!" Lincoln said in an accusatory tone as he pointed at Lynn, "I knew that she was going to do it!"

"It was an accident!" Lynn shouted.

"Young lady, I told you that you had to be careful!" Rita scolded Lynn as Lucy cried in the background, "You have to remember that you need to be gentle with your younger siblings! You better apologize to Lucy when she calms down, got it?"

"Oh, for the love of…" Lori said as she facepalmed, mildly irritated that her athletic younger sister had, once again, gotten too carried away with playing sports and as a result one of their other siblings was hurt. Thank goodness dad decided that Lynn wasn't allowed to play with either of the twins without being supervised by either him or mom; who knows what the budding athlete would end up doing if she was left alone with Lola and/or Lana.

* * *

Later that day, Lori was over at the Ace family residence, sitting at the dining room table with her friend Allison. The female Ace twin was currently drinking soda from a fairly large wooden mug. Having drained the mug dry, Allison proceeded to use the top of her wrist to wipe her mouth, before letting out a rather loud belch. "The athlete did _what_ to the quiet one?" Allison asked as she looked at Lori, a look of shock on her face.

"Lynn accidentally hit Lucy in the face with a soccer ball while the two of them and Lincoln were playing in the backyard," Lori explained.

"Sounds to me like that Lynn girl needs to be supervised," Allison remarked, "She sounds similar to my little brother Andy, although he's a bit more careful with playing his little sports. And he's lucky that whenever our cousins Amy and Alphonse comes over, Alphonse usually agrees to play with him." The female Ace twin looked into her wooden mug, and saw that it was empty. "…I could go for another flagon of soda," Allison remarked. Pointing to the wooden mug that sat next to Lori, Allison said, "You want a refill, Lori?"

"I barely had a sip," Lori pointed out, "It's still rather full."

With a shrug, Allison said, "Suit yourself." Allison then got up from the table and, taking her wooden mug with her, went into the kitchen, presumably to get a refill. While the female Ace twin was in the kitchen, Lori sighed. However, that sigh made her feel something, a feeling that she was familiar with. It wasn't the _other_ kind of feeling, although that feeling was related to this case. Lori reached over to her backpack, which sat on the chair on her left, opened the front pouch, reached inside, pulled out a small spray device, popped the cap, put the end she took the cap off of in her mouth, and inhaled when she pressed down on the other end.

As Lori did this, Allison returned from the kitchen, her wooden mug once again filled with soda. "You're one heck of a buddy to drink my fill with," Allison said to Lori, although her eyes were on her mug to keep it from spilling. After setting the mug down on the table, Allison looked up to where Lori said and said, "We ought to-" When she looked up, Allison stopped midsentence when she saw what Lori was doing. "Aha!" the female Ace twin said, "You never mentioned that you had one of those things of spray candy!"

"Spray candy?" Lori repeated in a confused tone, and before she could stop it, Allison took the item that she was using.

"Don't mind if I sample a taste!" Allison said before sticking her tongue out and pressing the other end of the thing she took from Lori, causing a spray from the item to hit her tongue. However, the instant the spray hit her tongue, Allison immediately began spitting in disgust. "What manner of trickery be this?!" the female Ace twin exclaimed, "Did the trickster god Loki use his powers to sour the taste of this spray candy?!" Looking over to Lori, Allison said, "How can you put up with so horrible a flavor?!"

At that time, the front door of the Ace residence opened, and walking into the house was Allison's younger twin brother Aggro and a grown man that had brownish brunette hair. He was about as tall as other adults Lori was familiar with, and he had a slim yet healthy build. He wore a loose-fitting t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and brown shoes. The man also clearly had Asian heritage, what with the look of his eyes.

Seeing that his sister looked like she had just tasted something with a very terrible flavor, Aggro asked, "Allison, what's wrong?"

Showing the item that she snatched from Lori to Aggro, Allison said, "This spray candy of Lori's has a horrific taste! I wouldn't try it if I were you, Aggro!"

"…" With a dry, unamused expression, Aggro remarked, "…Allison, that's an asthma inhaler."

"…Oh," Allison replied, a dumbfounded and mildly embarrassed look on her face. Turning around, Allison returned the inhaler to Lori while saying, "My apologies, Lori."

"It's…alright," Lori replied, mildly confused by how her friend mistook an inhaler for a thing of spray candy. Still, the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl found a little bit of humor in Allison's mistake. After putting the cap back onto her inhaler, Lori looked over to where Aggro and the grown man stood.

"Hello," Lori said to the grown man in a respectful manner.

"Hello to you, too," the grown man replied in a friendly manner, "Sorry if my daughter gave you a bit of trouble just now."

"Oh no, it's nothing that's all that bad," Lori replied. Realizing what the man had said, Lori continued, "So, you're Allison's dad?"

With a nod in the affirmative, the grown man said, "Yeah, the name's Shigure, although you should stick to calling me Mr. Ace."

"I was intending on doing so, Mr. Ace," Lori remarked. Looking to Aggro, Lori noticed that he was carrying some sort of cloth carrying case that looked like it was holding something that was approximately three feet in length. With a curious look on her face, Lori asked while pointing to the thing that Aggro held, "Hey Aggro, what's that you got there?"

"Oh, you mean this?" Aggro asked as he held up what he was carrying. Opening the one end of the carrying case, the male Ace twin pulled out a bokken that was inside of the case. Just a little over three feet in length, the bokken was a reddish-brown wood color. There was also some faux black leather (with red threading) wrapped around the one end, serving as the bokken's hilt. "When father and I stopped off at a yard sale that a friend of his was running," Aggro said as he began to explain, "I found that this was for sale. I had enough money on hand to buy it, so I did."

"It's a bit longer than the whitewood bokkens Aggro uses when he practices his Kendo kata," Shigure explained, "Not to mention slightly thicker, which means it's a little heavier. Also, this bokken has that wrapping around the one end to serve as a hilt." With a bit of an amused look on his face, Shigure added, "Also, Aggro always had to borrow the aforementioned whitewood bokkens whenever he wanted to practice. This is his own bokken."

"Aha, so you finally got yourself your own weapon, brother!" Allison remarked. Walking over to Aggro, Allison gave her younger twin brother a clap on the back while saying, "About time that this happened! Hey, maybe you and your sword can join Yonfour and I in the backyard for a bit of combat training, eh?"

"Allison, I'd rather that you and your brother don't attack each other with your golf club and his bokken," Shigure said in a mildly unsure tone, "I don't want you hurting each other."

"But we are a warrior family!" Allison replied, "We were born to battle!"

"Heh," Aggro said as he returned his bokken to the carrying case that he had it in, "If you are so insistent on a match, then at least wait until _after_ I come up with a name for my new bokken." Knowing full well how to play his older twin sister so he can avoid having to get into a fight her, Aggro continued, "It wouldn't do you well to be defeated by someone with a nameless-"

Aggro was cut off when there was a knock at the door. "You three wait here," Shigure said to Lori, Allison and Aggro, "I'll go see who that is." The Ace patriarch walked over to the front door an answered it. To his alarm and worry, it was a pair of police officers; their cruiser sat parked in front of the house.

"Is…is there a problem, officers?" Shigure asked.

"You are Shigure Ace, the husband of Ashe Ace, correct?" the first officer said.

"Right on both parts, officer," Shigure replied with a nod in the affirmative, "Why, is there something going on with my wife?"

"Are you familiar with your wife's sister Avarosa and her husband Randy?" the first officer asked.

"…Yeah, I'm familiar with my in-laws," Shigure replied, sounding like he was not liking where this was going, "Why, what happened?"

This time, it was the second officer who spoke up. With an audible sigh that clearly sounded like it came from someone who bore bad news, the second officer said something that shocked the Japanese man. "My partner here and I are here to inform you that there has just been a car crash involving your in-laws," the second officer said.

"They were in a car crash?!" Shigure said at a volume that was nearly exclaiming, more than loud enough to be heard by Lori, Allison and Aggro, who were all currently in the dining room, waiting for Shigure to finish his business with the visiting officers.

"I'm afraid so," the first officer said, "Luckily, your wife had your niece and nephew with her at the local grocery store at the time of the crash." Shigure sighed in relief, glad to hear that his niece and nephew, not to mention his wife of course, were all safe.

With another sigh, this one sounding troubled, Shigure said, "I'd hate to see the looks on Amy's and Alphonse's faces when they find out that their parents were in a car crash."

"That's…the other reason why we're here," the second officer remarked in a resigned tone. With a somber sigh, the second officer said something that made Shigure even more shocked, more than he had even been in his life so far.

"We're here mainly to inform you that your in-laws were both killed in the car crash. I'm sorry for your loss."

* * *

The Ace family matriarch, Ashe, was very clearly upset upon hearing that her sister and her sister's husband were both gone. Ashe and Avarosa were more than sisters, they were best friends. It helped that Shigure and Randy both got along pretty good as well, what with how they would exchange anecdotes from their childhoods and generally get along well like brothers. They _were_ brothers, as far as Shigure was concerned. But now he and Randy would never get to shoot the breeze with each other again.

And this is saying _nothing_ of how Shigure and Ashe's niece and nephew were dealing with what had just happened. Amy and Alphonse, ten and nine respectively, had just been orphaned. The two young children would not have their parents around to watch them grow up. Avarosa and Randy didn't even get to live to see Amy, their oldest child, reach middle school. From what Shigure heard from his wife Ashe over the phone, when she, Amy and Alphonse were informed of what had happened, while Alphonse was trying to put on a brave face, Amy started crying at full blast…pretty much right away.

Amy cared deeply for her family and all of her relatives, liking the fact that she was part of such a large family. To lose even one person from that count would be a devastating blow to Amy, but she ended up losing two. And both of those two were her parents. To say that this turn of events made Amy and the rest of the Aces upset would be so much of an understatement, that it would be an insult to the two children who just lost their parents, to the woman who had just lost her sister, to the man who had just lost one of his closest friends, to six kids who had just lost their aunt and uncle.

Lori Loud, who was with her friend Allison at the time, knew that the loss of her friend's aunt and uncle would make Allison upset, would make Aggro and the rest of their siblings upset. Allison told Lori that she needed time to prepare something, and that Lori would have to return home. But Allison also mentioned that she would be by early the following morning to pick Lori up from her place.

"You are my friend," Allison explained to the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl, "And thus I hope that I can count on you to support me in these troubled times." Once again, Lori was surprised by how much Allison valued the friendship that they shared. Lori nodded in agreement, saying that she'll do what she could. A few hours after Ashe came back with Alphonse and Amy was the soonest that Rita was able to come by to pick Lori up, as she was occupied with shopping and a few other things.

Lori explained to her mother the request that Allison made about showing up a bit early, and after explaining what happened, Rita agreed, especially since the early time that Allison had specified, five-thirty in the morning, seemed reasonable enough for an early time. Rita knew what it was like to lose someone close, given that her own mother (the grandmother of the Loud kids) died due to accidentally falling down the stairs at work when Rita was still in high school. The Loud matriarch sympathized with what the Aces were going through, being no stranger to losing a loved one.

* * *

At five-thirty the following morning, Lori was ready to go when Allison came to pick her up. To Lori's curiosity, the female Ace twin took her to somewhere in a nearby wooded area that had a fairly large lake. Already there at the lake in the wooded area were Aggro, Bobby Santiago (to Lori's surprise), and Allison and Aggro's younger cousins Amy and Alphonse.

Amy and Alphonse, unlike the other six Ace kids, were half Swedish and half Native American, rather than half Swedish and half Japanese. Ashe and her late sister Avarosa were both born and raised in Sweden, but whereas Shigure was born and raised in Japan, the late Randy was born and raised on a Native American reservation, having been born into the tribe that resided there.

Amy had black hair that was long enough to reach down her back a bit; the bangs covered one of her eyes, leaving the other one, which was a vibrant shade of burgundy, exposed. Amy had fair but somewhat pale skin, she wore a sleeveless black dress that reached her knees, black and white striped arm warmers, black and white striped stockings, and a pair of black shoes.

As for Alphonse, he did not have his older sister's paleness of the skin, but rather a skin tone that clearly reflected his mixed heritage, what with being fair skinned that had a splash of tan. The nine-year-old boy wore a yellow men's tank top, a yellow pair of baggy shorts held up with a belt, white socks and brown shoes. Alphonse's hair was also long enough to wear in a men's ponytail, and around Alphonse's neck he wore a Native American beaded necklace.

"Hey, everyone," Lori greeted with a wave of her hand, "Umm, I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday."

"It is not your fault that Aunt Avarosa and Uncle Randy were both called up to Valhalla by the Allfather," Allison replied. Gesturing to the stuff that she and the others had out by the lake, Allison continued, "In fact, that is part of why we're here this morning." Lori noticed what the Aces had out; a small portable barbecue grill that already had a fire going, a three-foot-long wooden model boat that resembled one of those Viking long boats, a bunch of dry plant life and other easily burnable material in the model boat, a bow that Aggro was holding, a quiver of arrows that laid on the ground near the barbecue grill, and a horn attached to a string, which hung from Allison's left hip.

"What's…what's all of this?" Lori asked, confused by everything.

"Aggro told me that he, his sister and their cousins are going to be doing something similar to a Viking funeral," Bobby explained, "They're going to take the model boat, put it in the lake, set a photo of their deceased aunt and uncle in the boat, push it out into the lake, then fire a flaming arrow at it so that the boat and all of its contents would catch fire."

"As the fire gets going, I intend to blow on this horn," Allison continued, "The reason why we're doing all of this is to make sure that Valhalla knows that it's about to receive new residents." Lori nodded in understanding, having a vague idea of the concept of Viking funerals. The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl had no intention of saying or doing anything disrespectful, knowing full well that everyone deals with loss in their own unique ways. Lori supposed that this was how Allison and the Aces deal with loss.

Lori watched as Allison, with Bobby assisting her, got the model Viking boat onto the lake. Once it was there, Amy and Alphonse walked up, with Amy laying a photo of her and her brother's deceased parents in the boat, somewhat buried in the burnable material. While all of this was going on, Aggro prepared some of the arrows by wrapping the heads with strips of cloth that had been soaked in a flammable liquid.

After Aggro got a few arrows ready, Allison pushed the model boat out into the lake. After about a minute, the boat sailed on its own further into the lake, albeit fairly slowly. After the model boat was about ten feet out into the lake, Allison said, "Alright, Aggro. Do it now." Without even giving a verbal response, Aggro placed one the prepared arrows onto his bow, held it to the lit barbecue grill so that the wrapped end was lit, then he walked close to the edge of the lake, took aim, and fired the flaming arrow, managing to make it land on the model boat. The material within the boat caught on fire pretty much instantly, creating a billowing flame that proceeded to consume everything in the boat. As this happened, Allison held the one end of the horn she had to her lips, then blew into it, creating a blaring sound that resonated with the Aces, resonated with Bobby, resonated with Lori.

Resonating all the way up to Valhalla as the consumed boat sank into the depths of the lake.

END, AWKWARD HERO CHAPTER THREE

Author's notes:

Quite a bit will be happening before Lori heads back to middle school after summer break ends, although I'm estimating two to three chapters before the main plot kicks back into gear. Besides which, origin stories and backgrounds are always fun to explore. Anywho, the next chapter will be covering an event that Aggro brought up during the events of 'Restored Image'. It will also be seeing Aggro doing something that he said that he'd do.

As a side note, in regards to Lori having an inhaler, I'm pretty sure that she doesn't _actually_ have asthma. But it fits with the whole 'nerdy, awkward loser' vibe that Lori has in this story, so I added it in. I'm trying to maintain a theme here.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Awkward Hero

Chapter four: Rise of the morning sun

To say that Rita Loud was concerned upon hearing about the loss that the Ace family suffered would be accurate, if just a little bit understated. Later in the morning after the impromptu Viking funeral that Allison, Aggro, Amy, Alphonse, Lori and Bobby held, like around ten or so in the morning, the Loud matriarch came by the Ace residence with a basket full of muffins that she had baked for Ashe and the rest of her family. Upon seeing that Ashe had almost as many children to look after as Rita herself (the number grew when Ashe and Shigure took in their niece and nephew), Rita said that she'd be back with more later. This drew a bit of appreciative, good-natured laughter from the Swedish woman.

It was the first time she smiled since before her sister's untimely death.

Lori also wanted to do what she could for her friend. Allison, although she was able to deal with the loss of her aunt and uncle surprisingly well, still had a moment or two of weakness when her emotions would overtake her. She would sit on her bed in her room and cry, asking the Allfather for a sign to explain why he had to call her aunt and uncle up to Valhalla so suddenly. Lori was there for Allison, sitting next to her and hugging her, assuring her only friend that there was no shame (Allison used the word 'dishonor' rather than 'shame', but the principle's more or less the same) in letting it all out.

A few days after Allison and her siblings lost their aunt and uncle, something related to the final affairs of the deceased popped up that the Aces had to deal with; the will. Aside from a few things that would go to Ashe and her sister Avarosa's aunt Sejuani, and a few things that had to go to Randy's father, everything that they had would go to Ashe, her children, Amy and Alphonse. When the moving truck came to bring what the Aces got, Allison just so happened to have Lori over at the time. Similarly, Aggro had Bobby over. Thus, the Hispanic twelve-year-old and the oldest Loud child were both conscripted into helping with bringing everything that was inherited into the house.

"Hey, Mrs. Ace," Bobby said as he and Aggro were both carrying a single large box, "Where do you want Aggro and I to put this box?" Ashe walked over and took a quick look at the box, trying to see if there was anything written on the side that would give her a clue as to where the box should go.

"Put this in the kitchen, boys," Ashe said. After Bobby and Aggro made their way to the kitchen with the box, Ashe walked out of the house, where she saw Allison and Amy trying to handle a recliner. "Girls, wait until your father gets back from Odin-Dono's," Ashe called out to the girls, then with a sigh added, "It's bad enough he can't help right now because he has to run the restaurant. I don't want you two out of commission because you hurt yourselves trying to carry the recliner inside."

"Wait a minute, Aunt Ashe," Amy said with a mildly confused look on her face, "Why did you say 'your father' when referring to both me and Allison? Uncle Shigure is just Allison's father."

"Oh," Ashe said with a mildly embarrassed look on her face, "Well, about t-"

"Hey, what's this?" Lori called out from where she was in the open moving truck, cutting Ashe off in the process. Walking out from the back of the truck was Lori, holding a simple wooden staff that, when you got close enough, had some intricate carvings in it. Upon further inspection, the carvings clearly denoted the staff to be of Native American make. "It's really pretty," Lori remarked, slowly turning it around with her hands.

"Ah, that was Uncle Randy's staff," Allison explained as she walked over to her friend. Receiving the staff from Lori, Allison explained, "My Uncle Randy would use this staff as a walking stick when he would go on walks at night on the reservation where he lived with Aunt Avarosa, Amy and Alphonse. He told us of stories where he would go to a mostly secluded spot on the reservation that had the best view of the night sky, as he had a fondness for stargazing."

"Whoa, that's pretty deep," Lori remarked.

Nodding in agreement, Allison added as she gestured to the staff, "I don't think that the will said anything about who would receive this, so I'm figuring that it should go to Alphonse, seeing as how this was a personal possession of Uncle Randy's, and Alphonse was Uncle Randy's first-born son. Sons usually inherit personal possessions from their father, with the son that was born first being put ahead of any other sons." Turning around to face Ashe, Allison said, "Isn't that right, mom?"

"Actually, Allison," Ashe began to explain, "Amy is supposed to get it. That's what was written in the will."

"Ah, well alright then," Allison replied, "That will save some confusion down the line." Walking over to her cousin with the staff, Allison handed it over to Amy while saying, "You ought to go put this inside with your other things."

"R-right," Amy replied, sounding a little shaken, as she received her late father's staff and took it inside. After the half Swedish half Native American girl disappeared into the house, Ashe turned to face Lori and Allison and sighed in a resigned tone.

"What's wring, Mrs. Ace?" Lori asked.

"It's my d- my niece," Ashe explained in a concerned tone, "She's still a little withdrawn. I know that what happened to her and Alphonse was terrible, but I was hoping that Amy would have cheered up at least a little by now." With a resigned sigh, Ashe added, "I really hate seeing Amy like this."

"If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion," Aggro said as he and Bobby walked out of the house, "Might we try having some sort of party tonight? Sorry, but I heard that last part with the concerns for Amy, and Alphonse to a lesser extent."

"A party?" Lori said, sounding mildly confused.

"Yeah, a party," Aggro began to explain, "It's quite obvious that Amy and Alphonse are going to be staying with us for a while, and what better way to make them feel welcomed than to throw them a party?"

"That's a rather sweet thing for you to consider for your cousins, Aggro," Ashe remarked to her son, "I'll have to go over it with your father when he gets back, but I'm not seeing him wanting to turn down the idea of a party." Since the idea for the party had already received approval from one of the Ace parents, the kids that were outside cheered a bit in celebration.

After he got home from working at the restaurant that he and Ashe owned and managed, Shigure was given the rundown of the idea for the party to make Amy and Alphonse feel welcomed. The Ace patriarch thought that the party was an excellent idea, and after he took Ashe aside to talk to her about something that none of the kids heard, the Ace parents both agreed to the idea of the party for Amy and Alphonse. Shigure even said that he and Ashe had a surprise of their own in mind for the party.

Hearing that the Ace parents had a surprise of their own planned, everyone else was looking forward to the party even more.

* * *

As it was going to be a party to try to make Amy and Alphonse feel more welcomed, Lori assumed that it was going to be a family-only thing for the Aces. But Ashe and Shigure didn't object when Allison had invited her to the party. Likewise, Aggro invited Bobby, although that was partly because his older twin sister had prompted him into doing so. As it was going to be an overnight deal, Lori had to pack a few things before she headed over to the Ace residence. Her backpack from school came in handy for this, as it wasn't being used for school at the moment due to summer break. The same applied to Bobby and his backpack.

When the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl and the Hispanic twelve-year-old boy were both over at the Ace residence for the party, they were surprised to see that some of Allison and Aggro's younger siblings were already excitedly running around, with two boys age three and five playfully chasing their older cousin Alphonse.

"Oh, those little dudes are Aggro's little brothers Andy and Argent," Bobby explained, "Andy is the five-year-old, and Argent is the three-year-old." After Alphonse, Andy and Argent disappeared into the house somewhere, a six-year-old girl came down the stairs and spotted Lori and Bobby. This little girl had long white hair, wore a sleeveless orange shirt, and a blue skirt that reached halfway down her shins.

"Bobby!" the little girl said, apparently having recognized the Hispanic twelve-year-old boy.

"Hey, Astrid," Bobby greeted with a wave of his hand, "You know where your older brother is?"

"Aggro is up in his room," the six-year-old girl, identified as Astrid, replied as she pointed up the stairs. After Bobby gave his thanks, he went up the stairs to get Aggro. While Bobby was doing that, Astrid turned her attention to Lori. The young girl just stood there, staring at the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl. About ten seconds or so passed before either of them broke the silence, with the person in question being Astrid.

"Are you a friend of Aggro's friend?" Astrid asked in a curious, innocent tone.

"That…would be accurate to say, yes," Lori replied, not entirely sure how to handle talking to the young Ace girl. Luckily for Lori, Allison appeared at that time from the kitchen, carrying what appeared to be a fairly large drinking horn.

"I hope you are not bothering Lori, young lady," Allison said to her little sister.

"Is she your friend, Allison?" Astrid asked.

"Indeed," the twelve-year-old Ace girl replied before taking a swig from her drinking horn. Allison drained the drinking horn dry, then let out a rather loud belch that lasted for a few seconds.

"EWWWWW!" Astrid exclaimed, "That was super gross!"

"I…think you beat your record from the last time," Lori remarked to her friend, drawing a bark of laughter from the Viking of RWMS in response.

"Well anywho, what are we waiting for?" Allison said to Lori, "The night's only getting started! We've got a party to get to, after all!" Lori nodded in agreement before she followed Allison to get some of the party snacks that had been procured. Lori couldn't remember the last time she was invited to an overnight party that wasn't just her and her siblings getting together to have a sleepover with each other.

Not that those were bad, mind you.

* * *

After everyone had their fill of pizza, Shigure and Ashe, the latter of the pair holding a baby girl roughly the same age as the Loud twins Lola and Lana, stood up from the table while everyone else was still seated, drawing the attention of all of the kids. "Kids, we have an announcement to make," Shigure began, "It's a rather important one that will have an impact on our family."

"Well don't let any of us stop you," Aggro replied, with his siblings all saying things that went along similar lines. Even Amy, Alphonse, Lori and Bobby mirrored the sentiment.

"Thank you, kids," Ashe replied, "Anyway, on to business. As we all know, our family suffered a rather tragic loss a few days ago, what with my sister and her husband getting killed in that car crash. We lost a sister and a brother-in-law, an aunt and an uncle, and a mom and dad."

"Furthermore," Shigure continued, "Amy and Alphonse were staying with us until something permanent could be figured out for their living arrangements. Well, that permanent thing has been figured out." Reaching over with his left arm to rest his left hand on Ashe's left shoulder (he stood on her right), Shigure said, "Your mother and I have adopted Amy and Alphonse."

Hearing this declaration from the Ace family patriarch drew a chorus of surprised "WHAT?!"'s from all of the kids sitting at the table; even Aggro, who normally keeps a cool demeanor about him at all times, could not hide his surprise upon hearing that his cousins were now his siblings. Lori and Bobby, neither of which were even related to the Aces, were likewise surprised. But none were more surprised than Amy and Alphonse themselves; they had gone from kids with parents to orphans to the adopted kids of their aunt and uncle, and all during the first week or so of summer vacation.

If either of them gets a 'how my summer vacation went' type of assignment when school starts up again, Amy and Alphonse would have quite a tale to tell.

"This calls for a celebration!" Allison declared, "I say that we should welcome Amy and Alphonse as our siblings by having a soda drinking contest!"

"Yeah, glad to have you guys in the family," Aggro remarked as he turned his attention to his cousins-turned-siblings, "Even though you guys were part of the family to begin with."

"Hey, Alphonse," Bobby began, "If you need anything for living here in Royal Woods, feel free to hit me up!"

"Aww, well isn't this the sweetest thing," Ashe remarked as she turned to face Shigure while all of the kids were talking to each other, "Even Allison and Aggro's friends are helping Amy and Alphonse feel welcomed here. I bet living in Royal Woods will be loads different than living on the reservation."

"It will be quite the change of scenery, I will admit," Shigure remarked with a nod of agreement to his wife. The two Ace parents then turned their attention back to the children, seeing that Bobby and Alphonse were trying to outdo each other in who can drink the most soda (Alphonse looks like he's winning), while Allison and Andy cheered on the competitors. Aggro, Astrid and Amy were all just calmly watching the spectacle, while Argent was laughing.

Speaking of laughing, Allison's friend Lori was also laughing, clearly having a good time.

* * *

Shigure was called over to a friend's place to help with an emergency, leaving Ashe alone to handle the kids. This wasn't much of an issue, as about an hour after Shigure left, it was time for everyone to head to bed. Even so, after Ashe and most of the younger children had gone to bed and were fast asleep, Allison, Amy and Lori were still awake, talking the night away as girls would do at overnight events such as this.

"So, Amy," Lori began, "How are you feeling right now?"

"What do you mean?" Amy replied, sounding mildly confused.

"Come on now, sister," Allison remarked, "To say that your week has been full would be an understatement.

Amy had a look of mild uncertainty on her face, saying nothing for a few seconds. Getting up from where she sat on the floor, Amy walked over to where she had leaned the staff she inherited, grabbed it, and simply held it in her hands. The Swedish/Native American girl looked at the staff with a somber look on her face. "It's…" Amy began, "…It's a lot for me to take in. I still can't believe that most of this week has happened."

"Take your time," Allison replied, "Just know that we're here for you."

"Your sister has a point, Amy," Lori remarked, "In fact, I can give you a hand if you want it."

Sniffling a bit as she tried to keep from crying, Amy said, "Thanks, Allison, Allison's friend. This…all of this means-" Amy was cut off when she and the other girls heard the door leading to the backyard open. "…Why would father come in through the backdoor?" Amy asked Allison in a tone of confusion.

"Maybe some of the boys are heading into the backyard to do some stargazing," Allison remarked, "After all, Uncle Randy used to love stargazing, so I have no doubt that Alphonse would want to-" Allison was cut off this time, although she wasn't cut off by the sound of a door opening, but rather by the sound of a young girl screaming in fright. This was followed by the gruff shouting of a grown man.

"That was Astrid," Allison said as she got up from where she sat on her bed, dashed over to the wall opposite of the foot end of her bed, and grabbed a four-iron golf club (that had a reddish-brown handle) that was leaning against the wall before running out of the room, followed by Lori and Amy, the latter having taken her staff with her.

When the girls left the room they were in, they were met up by Bobby and Aggro, the latter having his bokken with him. "Someone's breaking into our house," Aggro said over the sounds of the man and Astrid struggling downstairs, "And it sounds like Astrid was unlucky enough to encounter him while heading downstairs for a glass of water."

"This is bad, you guys," Lori remarked, "What do we do?"

"What else is there to do?" Aggro replied, a hint of urgency in his tone, "My little sister is in danger! I'm heading down there!" Before anyone could stop him, the twelve-year-old Ace boy went charging down the stairs, soon followed by Amy and Allison. After the three oldest Ace kids made their way downstairs, Lori decided to follow them for reasons she couldn't even name. Not wanting to leave everyone hanging, Bobby decided to head downstairs himself.

* * *

Due to being a convicted felon, the intruder didn't have a gun, and it was very difficult for him to get ahold of one. Still, the crowbar he had should serve him more than well enough. He even thought that he wasn't going to need it, as he assumed that everyone in this house was asleep at the time, allowing him to rob it with impunity. But all thoughts of that fled the intruder's mind when he was spotted by a six-year-old girl.

Acting quickly, the intruder ran for the girl and grabbed her. The girl screamed loudly as she struggled against the strength of a grown man. He didn't even want to waste his breath threatening the little girl into shutting up; he was just going to hit her in the head with his crowbar repeatedly. With his left arm around the struggling young child, the intruder took his right hand and raised it up as it gripped his crowbar.

"NOOOOOOO!" an angry and relatively young male voice shouted, making the intruder take pause as he saw a twelve-year-old boy charge at him with what looked like a sword made of wood. The little girl noticed that the mean man that was trying to hurt her was distracted, so she kicked him in his left shin with the heel of her right foot, making him yelp more out of surprise than anything else. Due to the surprise, the intruder's grip on the young girl was loosened, allowing her to slip away and run for safety.

"Damn little bra-" the intruder hissed, but before he could finish he was cut off by the twelve-year-old boy. The intruder was cut off in such a way that it ensured that he would never say anything ever again. The intruder went wide-eyed with shock after the twelve-year-old boy had cut him off. Looking down, the intruder saw something that he knew he wasn't going to be able to walk away from.

The twelve-year-old boy had shoved his wooden sword into the intruder's gut with such force that it actually _pierced his stomach_ , _impaling him_. Rich, warm crimson oozed from the point of entry, not to mention a bit from the intruder's mouth. Slowly, steadily and somewhat shakily, the intruder gripped the wooden sword, as if he were going to try and yank it out. Seeing this and fearing retaliation from the intruder, the twelve-year-old boy began to swish his wooden sword around back and forth, as if he were trying to grind up what was inside. This only made more of that scarlet life bleed out, not to mention making the intruder cough up a glob of it from his mouth. The intruder's grip on the sword went slack, his arm falling away. Seeing that the man who had tried to harm the young girl was losing strength, the twelve-year-old boy yanked the sword out of the older man's gut, eliciting a sharp yelp of pain.

The twelve-year-old boy, his sword covered in blood, backed away a few steps as the intruder fell to his hands and knees on the kitchen floor. A few seconds later, the intruder fell over onto his side, and there, on the kitchen floor of the house he tried breaking into to rob, the intruder laid in a steadily growing pool of red, never to get up again.

…

Lori couldn't believe it as she, Amy, Allison, Bobby and Astrid stood there in the kitchen doorway. One second, there was a grown man breaking into the house clearly with the intent to rob the place, and he even caught Astrid, who was able to get away from him. Then in the next second, Aggro shoved his bokken into the man's gut with such force that it impaled him. After swishing his bokken around a bit, Aggro pulled it out of the man's gut, allowing him to fall to the floor of the kitchen.

Aggro had just killed a man.

Right after the man fell over onto the kitchen floor, Ashe appeared in the kitchen doorway, holding a baseball bat. Upon seeing what was in the kitchen, Ashe immediately lowered the arm that was holding the bat. "…Kids, back away," Ashe said to Lori and the others. Turning to her oldest son, Ashe continued, "Aggro, please go with your siblings and friends. I'm…I'm going to have to call the police."

Like hell the police were going to arrest Aggro. The man he killed was an armed intruder (he had that crowbar) that managed to grab ahold of Aggro's six-year-old little sister. Furthermore, both Aggro and Astrid saw that the man was going to hit her with that crowbar. Also, the intruder was a convicted felon who had previously served time for burglary and assault; the officers who arrived at the Ace family residence, once they learned about the past of the slain intruder, felt that the intruder was highly likely to harm the residents.

This did little to ease Aggro's guilt because, regardless of justification, he just killed a man.

Due what had happened, the people who were currently at the Ace residence found it impossible to go back to sleep. Lori, Bobby, Allison and Amy were in the living room right at around dawn when Aggro, carrying his bokken (which had since been cleaned), descended the stairs. Aggro's shaky breathing, plus the lingering scent of puke that Lori caught, indicated that the twelve-year-old Ace boy had just returned from the bathroom after throwing up.

"Are you going to be okay, dude?" Bobby asked his best friend in a concerned tone.

"I…" Aggro replied, "…I will be fine. I still…I still can't believe that-"

"He was going to try and bash Astrid's head with a crowbar," Amy pointed out to her cousin turned older brother, "You have no need to beat yourself up over this. It helps that the officers said that you made a good call."

"That still doesn't mean that I can't feel horrific for taking a life," Aggro said.

The other kids were silent for a few seconds. Even Allison found it hard to say anything. The silence wasn't broken until Lori stood up from where she sat on the sofa. "Look, although what happened was bad, it prevented something far worse from happening," Lori began, "If that man was able to do what he was trying to do, then Astrid would be in his position right now, and we would all be feeling loads worse." The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl walked over to the living room window and opened the curtains, allowing the first of the sunrise to creep its way into the living room.

"Look, it's the beginning of a brand-new day," Lori said as she pointed out the window, "And I say that we shouldn't let what we've done bother us as we enjoy the new day."

"You got a point," Bobby remarked, "I mean, what's done is done. We'll deal with things as they come and go."

"Yeah, I think that's as good as a solution as we're going to get," Aggro said, "I think that we should just enjoy watching the morning sun rise this-" Aggro stopped midsentence, a look of inspiration crossing his face. Holding his bokken with both hands as he looked at it, Aggro said, "…That's it."

"What's it?" Lori asked.

"…My bokken," Aggro said as he looked over to the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl. Aggro looked back down to his bokken, the sword that he had used to take a life in order to spare another. With a slightly relaxed sigh, Aggro said, "I'm going to name it Morning Sun."

END, AWKWARD HERO CHAPTER FOUR

Author's notes:

…Remember in 'Restored Image' where a seventeen-year-old Aggro tells and eleven-year-old Lincoln about the time he killed a man? Yeah, this is it. Anywho, the next chapter will be the last one before school goes back into session. The next chapter will also see happen something that has been mentioned in passing once or twice.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Awkward Hero

Chapter five: A tragic freak accident

One day during the middle of her summer vacation between sixth and seventh grade, twelve-year-old Lori Loud was at home. Rita and Lynn Sr. were both out, but Rita would be back in roughly two hours. Hopefully that wasn't too long to leave Lori in charge of Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lincoln, Lucy and the baby twins Lola and Lana.

At least things shouldn't be too difficult for the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl. Leni is relatively quiet and was focusing on making something with the sewing machine she had in her and Lori's room; Leni was at it shortly before Rita left, and would most likely be occupied until Rita came back. The twins were just put down for a nap, so that took care of them.

Lincoln followed Lori around and did pretty much whatever she said, and Lucy followed Lincoln wherever he went, mimicking her older brother. As a matter of fact, both Lincoln and Lucy were sitting on the sofa in the living room with Lori, watching TV with her. Lori felt that Lincoln, and to a lesser extent Lucy, would be easy enough for her to look after while she was-

A loud guitar riff coming from the garage cut Lori's thought process off, startling her, Lincoln and Lucy. Additionally, the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl heard crying coming from one of the rooms upstairs. "… _Great_ ," Lori thought in a bemused tone as the loud music from the garage continued, " _Luna just woke up the twins_." Getting up from the sofa, Lori said to Lincoln and Lucy, "You two wait here. I'm going to go see what Luna's up to."

"Got it, Lori!" Lincoln replied as he saluted her. Seeing what her older brother was doing, Lucy gave a salute as well. About halfway to the garage, Lori heard Leni cry out in fear; turning around, Lori saw that Leni was being chased by Luan, who held a fake spider tied to a string that dangled from a stick.

"Luan, stop doing that!" Lori ordered before turning around and heading into the garage. Upon reaching the garage, Lori saw that Luna was playing music with three kids around her (Luna's) age, two of them boys and the third a blonde-haired girl with a streak of blue in her hair. To Lori's surprise, the final member of Luna's 'band' was a young adult man wearing a white men's tank top under a black vest, blue jeans, black cowboy boots, and a purple newsboy cap. The man also has his nose pierced, wearing a gold loop in his nose.

"LUNA!" Lori shouted at the top of her lungs, in order to be heard over the music. This managed to work, as Luna stopped shredding on her guitar. This, in turn, prompted the other members of Luna's 'band' to stop playing. With all eyes on her, Lori said, "Luna, couldn't you have waited until a different time to play your music? You and your friends just woke Lola and Lana up from their nap, and now both of them are crying!"

"Oh geez, I completely forgot about that," Luna remarked in a mildly guilty tone.

"'Ay, sorry about waking up the lil' birds, guv," the young adult man said to Lori in a British accent. Having heard the man speak up, Lori turned to face him.

"…I'm sorry, but who are you?" Lori asked in a confused tone as she faced the young adult man.

"Oh, Lori," Luna began, "This is my roadie Chunk. He jams with us sometimes."

"You…have a roadie," Lori said to her musically inclined younger sister.

"Totally, dude," Luna replied.

"And…you're ten," Lori continued.

"There's no age requirement or limit on being awesome, brah," Luna replied.

Sighing in a mildly frustrated tone, Lori said, "Whatever. Just please refrain from playing music until the twins are ready to be woken up from their nap, alright? I have to go back inside and try to get Lola and Lana to settle back down, then I have to get Luan to stop chasing Leni with that fake spider of hers."

"Can't you just take that thing from her?" the girl with the streak of blue in her blonde hair asked, "That should stop her from pulling that stunt again."

"If I take it from Luan, then she'll complain to mom and dad," Lori replied, "I'll just have to figure out a way to keep Luan from messing with Leni's arachnophobia." The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl went back into her family's house, and was about to track down Luan to give her a piece of her mind. But before Lori could do that, she heard crying coming from Lincoln in the living room. Rushing in, Lori saw that Lincoln was covering his head with a cushion from the sofa while Lynn was trying to profusely apologize to the sole Loud boy; while Lynn was doing that, Lucy was smacking Lynn with a teddy bear.

"What happened here?" Lori asked.

"Lynn hit me in the head with a football!" Lincoln cried.

"It was an accident!" Lynn practically exclaimed, clearly sounding like she was afraid of what would happen when one of the Loud parents returned home.

"No hurt brother!" Lucy said in a clearly disappointed tone as she continued to smack Lynn with the teddy bear, obviously upset that Lynn had hurt Lincoln.

"Lynn, back away from Lincoln and Lucy right now," Lori ordered, "I'll figure out something to deal with you until mom or dad gets back. But first I have to go stop Luan from messing with Leni and get the twins to settle back down and resume their nap." Lori then marched up the stairs to the second floor, wishing that things would get simpler starting really soon.

Lori didn't even have a word to describe how much this was all bothering her right now.

* * *

Later that week, Lori was walking back from a convenience store with her friend Allison Ace, Allison's younger siblings Aggro and Amy, and Aggro's friend Bobby Santiago. As the five kids made their way over to the Ace residence, Bobby said to Aggro, "Hey man, are we still on for video games tonight?"

"I don't see anything that would keep that from happening," Aggro replied in a casual tone, "Although be warned that if I use Ibuki, you're going down."

"No way, man," Bobby said in a playfully competitive tone, "I've been practicing playing Guile whenever I have the time, so I can say for certain that you're the one who is going down!"

"Sounds like you guys are going to have some fun tonight," Lori remarked, a hint of amusement in her tone.

"Oh yeah," Bobby replied, "It's going to be something between us guys. Aggro and I are going to have some serious-"

"Hey, there's a police car parked in front of our house," Amy said, cutting the Hispanic twelve-year-old boy off in the process, as she pointed to where the Ace family residence was. True to what Amy said, there was a police car parked in front of the house. Looking over a bit, the kids all was a pair of police officers talking to Ashe, the mother of the Ace kids. Lori and the others also saw that the Ace matriarch was crying, clearly upset by something.

"…This does not bode well," Allison remarked in a serious tone, clearly not liking what she was seeing so far.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when Lori finally returned to her family's house. When she came in, Lori was met up by Rita who, upon seeing the somber, shell-shocked look on her daughter's face, knew that something bad had happened. "Lori, sweetie," Rita began in a concerned tone, "Are you okay?" The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl shook her head gently in the negative. "Did something bad happen?" Rita continued, drawing a gentle nod in the affirmative from her first-born child.

Rita was worried what could have happened, so she gently led Lori to the dining room, where mother and daughter sat at the table together. Believing that Lori might start crying due to the look of sadness on her face, Rita went and got a box of tissues, which she placed on the table near Lori before sitting opposite of her at the table. "Do…do you want to talk about it, dear?" Rita asked, worried about what might have happened. The Loud matriarch was right to be worried, because what Lori told her took her by surprise.

"Mr. Ace was killed earlier today in an accident while catering an event at a place where a friend of his worked."

* * *

To say that this summer break was not kind to the Ace family would simply not be doing it justice. First Ashe's sister Avarosa, along with Avarosa's husband Randy, were killed in a car crash, resulting in orphaning their kids Amy and Alphonse. Granted, Ashe and her husband Shigure adopted Amy and Alphonse, thus giving them a stable home, but there would always be that underlying feeling of loss, and suffered at so young of an age to boot.

And now that loss was suffered yet again, with Ashe in particular suffering the sting of that loss. Her husband was killed in an accident while he was running a catering event at the place of work where a friend of his held a job. First Ashe lost her sister, and now she lost her husband. Heaven forbid she loses one of the kids.

…Oh God, the kids…

Ashe was thinking about how her kids were taking the news of Shigure's death, and taking it rather badly. Amy and Alphonse were being quiet and withdrawn, as they had just lost a father for the second time. Allison was not crying, although Ashe did see her oldest daughter head into the garage; even from where she stood in the kitchen, Ashe could hear Allison shout and bellow in rage and anger. Astrid, Andy and Argent did cry, being that they were six, five and three respectively, and while the boys had cried themselves out, Astrid was still going at it. Baby Anna, who was just a little over one year old, was the only child not acting upset; but then again, she would grow up never knowing her father.

Then there was Ashe's oldest son, Aggro. An argument could be made on how out of all of the Ace kids, Aggro was taking the news of his father's death the hardest. He was the one closest to Shigure, after all. Figuring that she'd let Allison rage herself out, Ashe went up to where her son was sulking. Entering the bedroom that Aggro shared with one of his siblings, Ashe said in a nervous tone, "Aggro? Sweetie? How are you feeling?"

"Mo sono koto hanashita kunai," Aggro said briskly, his tone somber and serious. Ashe had no idea what her first-born son was talking about, given that he was speaking in Japanese, the language that he learned from his late father, her late husband. It was a language both father and son spoke fluently, which helped further cement their parent-child bond. That half of his heritage, that language, that bond…they were the only things that Aggro had from his father, one of the closest friends the twelve-year-old Ace boy ever had.

A friend that he would never see again.

Ashe could tell that her son doesn't want to talk about how he's feeling right now, and deiced that it was best to leave him alone for a while. "If you feel like talking about anything, just let me know, Aggro," Ashe said. With a hint of sadness in her tone, the Swedish woman continued, "I'm here for you if you need it." Her son only replied with a hum, showing that he at least heard what she said. Slowly, Ashe closed the door, allowing Aggro to be alone.

A few seconds after the door was closed, Aggro began to cry softly to himself.

* * *

The following morning, Rita was making breakfast for her children when she heard the front door open. A few seconds later, Lori walked into the kitchen. "I'm guessing that your friend did that ceremony she performed for her aunt and uncle again, only this time it was for her father?" Rita asked as Lori took an empty seat at the table, one that was located on Lincoln's right, with put him in the middle between Lori and Lucy.

"Yeah," Lori replied in a mildly somber tone, "Although this time, her twin brother was wearing some green colored sleeveless long coat that I couldn't identify."

"I see," Rita remarked.

"Also," Lori continued, "After the model Viking boat that Allison put out onto the lake sank after it had burned, Bobby handed Allison's brother an envelope that had some sort of black ribbon decoration on it. Bobby later told me that the envelope that he handed to Allison's brother held ten dollars."

"Bobby gave his friend ten dollars?" Rita said in a confused tone.

"Bobby told me how what he did was something of a funeral custom in Japan, and that the envelope with the black ribbon decoration was essential to the custom," Lori explained. Rita nodded in an understanding manner, knowing that everyone around the world had their own unique customs for funerals.

"Is Bobby's friend's family going to be okay, Lori?" Lincoln asked in a concerned tone as he looked up at his older sister. Lori turned around to face her younger brother, and saw that both him and Lucy were looking up at her. The first-born Loud child smiled sympathetically; even though he didn't even know the Aces, Lincoln still worried about them. It showed how sweet of a kid he really was.

"…Yeah, Lincoln," Lori replied in a gentle tone. Reaching over to gently ruffle Lincoln's hair, Lori continued, "They're going to be fine."

* * *

Time passed, and eventually, life returned to normal for the Aces. …Well, as normal as it can be for a woman who not only has to run a restaurant she owns on her own, but also raise eight kids ranging in age from a year to twelve years. Luckily some of the adults from her late brother-in-law's side of the family was available to lend a hand when needed, and there were also her parents, the maternal grandparents of the Ace kids. Ashe's aunt Sejuani also came by for the funeral, and she said that she would help where and when she can.

And these were just cases of relatives. Friends of the Aces also gave a helping hand.

It was close to the end of summer vacation when a sense of normalcy began to settle in for the Ace family, allowing them to resume their lives as best as they could. With that normalcy restored, Allison and Aggro were able to hang out more with Lori and Bobby. Granted there wasn't much time left in summer vacation by the time Allison and her siblings could resumes their lives, but they made the most of it. In the end, the four twelve-year-old kids all had as much fun as they could have, with all things considered. But, as it is with all good things, the time off rom school had to come to an end.

On the night before everyone went back to school, Rita walked up the stairs to the second floor, and went over to the door of the bedroom shared by her two oldest kids. The door was open, so Rita looked inside, and saw that a folding table (the kind used when some men get together to play cards) had been set up. There were two folding chairs seated at the table, along opposite sides. In the chair that was closest to Lori's bed was Lori herself, and in the other was Lincoln. Both Loud kids were making various beaded jewelry. It was a hobby of Lori's, and given how much he looked up to her, it was unsurprising that Lincoln would want to join her.

With a mildly amused smile on her face, Rita said, "You really ought to get to bed now, Lori. Your first day of seventh grade starts tomorrow."

"I know, mom," Lori replied, "It's just…" Lori trailed off, turning her head to face Lincoln, who was currently resting his head on his arms, having fallen asleep as some point. "…I wanted one last night of doing something fun with one of the girls or Lincoln," Lori explained, "You know, a nice way to official end summer vacation."

"And I see that someone was more than glad to take you up on that offer," Rita remarked gently as she walked over and scooped her six-year-old son up. This scooping up managed to stir the sole Loud boy from sleeping.

"Huh…" Lincoln muttered as he started to wake up. This gave Rita the cue to gently set Lincoln down so that he was standing on the floor. "…Mom?" Lincoln said as he looked up at Rita.

"Lincoln, sweetie, it's time for bed," Rita said, "You got your first day of first grade tomorrow."

"Oh yeah," Lincoln replied. The sole Loud boy realized that he was holding something, so he looked into his right hand. "Oh!" Lincoln said before he quickly dashed over to Lori. "I finished this, so here you go," Lincoln said as he handed what he was holding over to Lori. She accepted the item, which turned out to be one of the beaded bracelets that Lincoln made. It would be a bit loose when worn by Lori, but what caught her attention was what the beaded bracelet said.

Using the beads that had letters on them, Lincoln spelled out 'Big Sister', and there was even a heart-shaped bead between the two words. Lori's little brother had made this bracelet for her. The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl was touched by this gesture.

"Th…thanks, Lincoln," Lori remarked.

"You're welcome," Lincoln replied as he threw his arms around his big sister so that he could hug her. After that hug, Lincoln left the bedroom so he could go to his own bedroom at the end of the hall, even though said bedroom was actually just a converted linin closet. After Lincoln was gone, Rita turned to face Lori.

"Well wasn't that just one of the sweetest things," Rita said, "Anywho, you ought to get going to bed now, Lori."

"Right, mom," Lori replied with a nod. After putting away all of the unused beaded jewelry materials, Lori got into her sleepwear and sat down on her bed. Setting the beaded bracelet that Lincoln made for her on her nightstand, Lori gave it one final look before taking off her glasses, setting them down on the nightstand as well, turned off her lamp, then got under the covers and went to sleep.

Lori was not looking forward to what the next day would offer her at school.

END, AWKWARD HERO CHAPTER FIVE

Author's notes:

I actually had to do a bit of research on the internet to make sure I got the correct translation of what I wanted Aggro to say in Japanese (it's as close as I could get, anyway). I also looked up what's done at Japanese funerals, given that the Ace siblings' dad was Japanese. It's always hard when a loved one passes away. I should know.

Anywho, the next chapter will see Lori back at RWMS. It's not going to be an easy road for the first-born Loud sibling, especially when things start to heat up.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Awkward Hero

Chapter six: Beginning of a rather surprising friendship

To say that Lori Loud was not looking forward to her first day of seventh grade at Royal Woods Middle School would be an understatement. Don't get her wrong, Lori is by no means a bad student. In fact, one could make the argument that Lori is one of the most academically gifted students not just in RWMS's seventh grade year, but throughout RWMS as a whole. The classes would prove little challenge, if any, to the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl.

The reason why Lori was not looking forward to her first day of seventh grade was because she would undoubtedly have to deal with the same mean girls that she had to deal with the previous school year. The vain, petty, pretty girls that commanded a lot of popularity, as well as brutish thugs such as Gilda and Reggie. The only change was that the bullies that were in eighth grade last year were now attending classes at RWHS as Freshmen. Although chances are a few cocky sixth graders this year will try to take their place.

It wouldn't surprise Lori if a kid one grade below her tried to bully her. Hell, Lori is occasionally bullied by her little sister Lynn, who is only eight years old.

And speaking of siblings, this school year brought Lori's younger sister Leni as a new student of RWMS. "Wow!" Leni said in awe as she looked up at the main building of the school, "This place is, like, totes big! It's bigger than the elementary school!"

"Yes, Leni," Lori replied, finding some humor in her sister's sheer amazement at the splendor of the middle school (well, it had a lot of splendor compared to the elementary school). The two oldest Loud children proceeded to head into the school, so that they could begin their first day of the new school year. Leni, the excited sixth grader entering the school for the first time, had a bit of a spring in her step, highlighting how excited she was.

Lori, the wary seventh grader, more or less shuffled in after her younger sister.

* * *

As Lori expected, the first part of the school day was mostly just introductory stuff, along with receiving a few papers that required a parent's signature. In between classes, Lori saw in the hallway that, as it was with the previous school year, a good number of girls had scoped out Aggro Ace, the younger twin brother of Lori's only friend Allison. The male Ace twin was something of a heartthrob as a sixth grader, after all, and this didn't change when Aggro went into seventh grade.

In fact, Lori noticed that not only were there more girls than usual, but that they seemed to have a slightly increased interest in Aggro. Was it because he now wore that sleeveless long coat? Or was it that slight hint of a brooding attitude the male Ace twin now possessed? Lori paid this no mind, and the last she heard of Aggro that day was that he said that he was planning to ask the principal to let him start up a Kendo club at the school.

During lunch, Lori, from where she sat with Allison in the cafeteria, saw that some of the vain, petty, pretty girls had taken a shine to Leni that, while it confused the female Ace twin, proved to be no surprise to Lori. After all, Leni was without a doubt the prettiest of the Loud girls, not to mention the one who dressed the best. Those superficial girls probably saw the ditzy Loud girl and assumed that she was one of them.

Jerking a thumb in the direction of where three of the vain, petty, pretty girls were talking to Leni, Allison said to Lori, "Looks like those wenches over there are trying to take that sixth grader into their fold. It's no surprise that they'd prey on the new and inexperienced students on the first day of school."

"Yeah," Lori replied, a slight lack of enthusiasm in her tone, "No surprise there."

"If you want my opinion," the female Ace twin began, "I think that-"

"FOODFIGHT!" one random male voice shouted from somewhere in the cafeteria, cutting Allison off in the process. Not one second later, food began to fly all over the cafeteria. Acting on sheer instinct, Lori ducked to hide under the table that she sat at. Allison, for her part, decided to take part in the ensuing battle of projectile foodstuff.

"Hey, Lori," Allison began, "You mind if I use your hot dog as ammo?"

"…Be me guest," the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl replied dryly.

* * *

When she and Leni got home from the first day of school, Lori immediately sought out Rita, the matriarch of the Loud family, so she and Leni could get her to sign the various papers that they needed a parent to sign. Upon finding Rita, Lori saw that she was in the dining room, sitting at her usual place at the table as she was already signing a few papers from the elementary school for Luna, Luan, Lynn and Lincoln.

"Oh, hey girls," Rita greeted her two oldest daughters as she saw them walk into the dining room, "How was your first day at school today?"

"Other than someone starting a food fight in the cafeteria during lunch, nothing of note really happened," Lori replied.

"A food fight happened during lunch?!" Rita remarked, surprised enough to drop the pen she was using to put her parental signature on the papers from the elementary school.

"I ducked under a table and hid there until the food fight was over, so I wasn't hit," Lori said right away to ease her mother's worries. Pointing to Leni, Lori continued, "And since I don't see any evidence on Leni suggesting that she was hit by stray food, I'm guessing she either did the same or wasn't in the cafeteria at the time the food fight took place."

"Well, that's a relief," Rita replied with a relieved sigh. Gesturing to her two oldest daughters, Rita said, "I don't suppose you girls have anything that requires a parent's signature, do you?"

"I'll get it out right now," Lori said as she walked over to the table and sat her backpack down. As Lori did this, Leni walked over and sat her backpack down on the table as well.

"Umm, Lori," Leni began in a confused tone, "What does mom, like, mean when she asked if you and I have anything that requires a parent's signature? Are we both, like, in trouble or something?"

"No, Leni," Lori began to explain, "Did you get any syllabuses handed out in your classes today?"

"What are those?" Leni replied in a confused tone.

"…Just let me see what you got at school today," Lori said, a mild hint of frustration in her tone.

* * *

Thanks to Lori finding the parts of the various syllabuses Leni got that Rita had to sign, the process of the middle school girls having Rita's signature on the papers that required it was taken care of fairly quickly. Neither Lori or Leni had any homework today (it's the first day of school, what did you expect?), so the rest of the day was theirs. The two oldest Loud girls decided to head up to their room to relax for a bit.

"Hey Lori, I have a question," Leni began.

"What's up?" Lori replied.

"What's a food fight and why would mom, like, be worried about hearing that one took place at school today?" Leni asked.

"A food fight is where a bunch of kids in the school's cafeteria throw their food all over the place in the hopes of hitting another kid with said food," Lori explained. With a wry look on her face, Lori added, "A friend of mine said that she scored a direct hit in someone's eye because she threw my hot dog at them."

"Are food fights, like, bad?" Leni asked.

"Technically, they're against the school's rules," Lori replied, "Not to mention it's an absolute nightmare for the janitorial staff of the school to clean up the place after a food fight occurs."

"So, food fights are not, like, allowed at our school," Leni said.

"They aren't allowed at any school in general," Lori clarified, "So it's not just the middle school we go to, but also the elementary school that our siblings go to as well, not to mention the local high school." Lori shuddered a bit at the last part she had just said; she was at the RWMS cafeteria at the time the food fight took place, but the food fight was only at the middle school level. The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl did not want to know what a food fight was like at a _high school_ level, and she prayed that she would never find out.

…Maybe Lori would ask Allison to ask that Allfather fellow she talks about all the time to look into keeping food fights from happening again. At least while they were still in the K-12 schools of the Royal Woods area.

"This whole talk about food fights happening at schools, like, has me worried that Linky and our sisters at the elementary school might get caught up in one," Leni remarked.

"I wouldn't worry about that too much, Leni," Lori said, "They keep a close eye on the kids over at the elementary school. I highly doubt a food fight would ever break out over there."

"I still can't help but worry, you know," Leni replied, her tone clearly carrying the worry that she had that one of her siblings might get struck by stray food. Lori understood full well that her ditzy and fashionable younger sister is the kind who can't help but be concerned about something happening to one of her siblings, that Leni cares about all of her siblings, especially the younger ones.

The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl had no doubt that a certain white-haired boy is at the top of Leni's list in that regard.

"Hey Leni," Lori began in a casual tone, "I don't think that I asked you how your first day was."

"Oh, there were these girls at school who totes loved what I wore today," Leni began, "They also said that I looked pretty and that I would fit right in with them." Gasping in a manner that conveyed that she had just been struck by a sudden idea, Leni said, "Hey Lori, do you think that those girls would be interested in starting up a fashion club?"

"I'm pretty sure there's already a fashion club at school," Lori replied somewhat dryly, "You can ask around tomorrow. If there isn't a fashion club, then I suppose that you'd be making history at school by starting up the first fashion club."

"EEEEEEEEE!" Leni squealed in an excited manner, "This is so exciting!" As Leni proceeded to go off on an excitement-fueled tangent, Lori calmly chuckled to herself in a good-natured tone. Leave it to Leni to get excited over pretty dresses and talking about the latest fads and all that other jazz. It wasn't exactly Lori's cup of tea, but the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl would not begrudge her younger sister should she go that route.

All Lori was worried about was the chance that Leni may end up becoming a mean girl like the ones at school.

* * *

The following day at RWMS, Lori was walking through one of the hallways, as she was making her way to the library. The library was always something of a safe haven for Lori at the school, as the various mean girls and brutish girl bullies never go to the library willingly; they had to be taken there as part of a class when their teacher decided to take them over there. Besides, it was a quiet place where one could get some work done on assignments. That's another plus right there.

As Lori turned a corner in the hallways, she heard the sounds of feet hitting the floor repeatedly and quickly, clearly the sign of someone running in the halls. Looking over, Lori saw a girl running towards her. This girl had fair and flawless skin, she wore her long yellow-blonde hair in a curly side ponytail, and her outfit consisted of a cute sleeveless tank top that was pink in color, a pair of cream-colored shorts that were barely long enough for the girl to get away with wearing to school, and a pair of platform shoes the same color as the tank top; the tops of a pair of ankle socks (of a darker shade of pink) could barely be seen.

The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl never saw this girl before, but she could tell full well that this girl was one of those vain, petty, pretty girls who were obsessed with fashion and popularity. Would this new pretty girl be like all the others at school and take to making Lori's life at RWMS a living hell? The oldest Loud sibling was fully prepared to receive various insults from this new pretty girl; Lori even expected particularly harsh words, such as the dreaded 'C' word which she had received at least twice before from Gilda and Reggie.

However, the new pretty girl clearly didn't look like she was going to come over to Lori just to insult her; in fact, if Lori didn't know any better, she'd think that the new pretty girl looked like she was running from something. By the time Lori and the new pretty girl got close enough to each other so they could talk without having to raise their voices, they both stood in front of an open door that led into a classroom. The new pretty girl saw the open door and proceeded to go into the room, hoping for cover.

As she passed Lori, the new pretty girl said to her, "If anyone asks, I made a right turn at the end of the hall." Lori, confused by what the new pretty just told her, simply stood there as the new pretty girl headed into the room. The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl had no idea what was going on, but she got a reasonable idea of the gist of what was going on when Gilda and Reggie turned the corner that the new pretty girl came around from and proceeded to run down the hallway towards Lori's direction.

The two brutish girl bullies saw their usual target, but they clearly seemed like they had something else going on that would keep them from having a little fun at the expense of the oldest Loud sibling. "Hey dorkwad," Gilda sneered in a mean tone as she and Reggie came up to Lori, "Did you see one of those fashion bitches come running down this hallway?"

"You…you mean one of those girls that are obsessed with fashion?" Lori replied in a question tone that carried a mild amount of fear due to the fact that Lori was currently dealing with her two most usual bullies right now. At that moment, Lori's suspicions were confirmed; the new pretty girl was running from Gilda and Reggie, for some reason. Turning around to face the end of the hall that she came from, Lori pointed in that direction while saying, "I saw one of those kinds of girls run down the hallway in that direction before she made a right turn. I remember that she was wearing a pair of pink platform shoes."

"Alright, thanks," Reggie remarked, begrudging of the fact that she and her friend had to give thanks to a dweeb such as Lori, "Gilda and I will postpone screwing with you to a later time." The two brutish girl bullies then took off down the end of the hallway, disappearing from Lori's sight when they made a right turn.

A bit confused and wanting answers to what was going on, the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl went into the classroom the new pretty girl was hiding in. Closing the door behind her, Lori called out, "Hey, where are you hiding? Those two girls just ran off after I misled them just like you asked me to." About a second later, the new pretty girl popped up from where she hid behind a desk. Spotting Lori, the new pretty girl sighed in relief.

"Thanks for the save," the new pretty girl said as she got up and walked over to Lori, "I thought those girls were going to pick me up and shove me head-first into a garbage can."

"You wouldn't have been the first one that Gilda and Reggie did that to," Lori remarked in a dry and knowing tone.

"Oh geez, they did that to you?" the new pretty girl said, sounding a mix of shocked and worried.

"They've done that to me quite a bit last year while we were in the sixth grade," Lori began to explain, "Along with shoving me into a locker. At least that didn't last long since my friend Allison busted me out within five minutes."

"Why doesn't the school do anything about them?" the new pretty girl asked, sounding alarmed at the fact that girls such as Gilda and Reggie have been allowed to get away with bullying other students for so long.

"The school _has_ done something about it," Lori replied, "They've done something about Gilda and Reggie multiple times. It's just that those two just go back to doing what they've been doing when once they're off punishment. Not even that one-week suspension they got for shoving me into the walk-in freezer in the cafeteria's kitchen was enough to straighten them out."

"They locked you in a walk-in freezer that's in the cafeteria's kitchen?" the new pretty girl repeated, sounding seven-parts shocked and three-parts disgusted.

Nodding once in the affirmative, Lori added, "I was stuck in there for close to an hour. Luckily, they didn't know I had a phone, so I was able to call for help."

"Those girls can't be allowed to continue treating others like that," the new pretty girl remarked in a righteously angry tone, "We have to take this up with the principal!"

"I've told the principal about Gilda and Reggie at least three times a week last school year," Lori pointed out dryly, "But whenever I, or most other students for that matter, complain about those two, they seldom get anything worse than a slap on the wrist."

The new pretty girl wore a knowing look of amusement in response to what Lori told her about how Gilda and Reggie have gotten away with bullying other students at the school. "…Maybe I can do something about that," the new pretty girl replied.

* * *

About an hour later, a police officer was loading Gilda and Reggie into the back of a RWPD cruiser. Various students watched as the two notorious bullies were taken away. As for Lori and the new pretty girl, they leaned back slightly and turned their heads to see two men dressed in suits talking to the principal and vice-principal. "…Yeah, I'm pretty sure that the principal and vice-principal are going to be in a bit of trouble for not doing anything decisive about the bully problem at this school," the new pretty girl said to Lori in a casual tone that clearly conveyed amusement at what was going on, "Those lawyers my daddy sent are certainly giving the principal and vice-principal an earful since the school let me get harassed and bullied by those two mean girls. I think I heard the one lawyer say something about endangerment."

"Those are lawyers?" Lori said in a surprised and confused tone, "Your dad sent lawyers? Your dad _has_ lawyers?!"

"Uhh huh," the new pretty girl replied with a nod in the affirmative, "My daddy is like super rich, so he can do stuff like that." Holding a hand out to Lori for a handshake, the new pretty girl said, "By the way, I'm Trixie. Trixie Goldman."

"…Lori," the oldest Loud sibling replied as she held her hand out to accept the handshake, her tone somewhat hesitant since she was talking to one of those kinds of girls who seemed like she'd be one of those vain, petty girls who's ruthlessly insult her, "Lori Loud." As the two girls shook hands, a look of realization spread across the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl's face. "Wait a minute," Lori began, "Your last name is Goldman? As in Buford Goldman, one of the men running for Royal Wood's mayor in the upcoming mayoral elections?"

"Yep, that's right," Trixie replied with a nod in the affirmative, "Buford Goldman is my dad."

"Well that would certainly explain how we got such effective results in dealing with Gilda and Reggie," Lori remarked in a mildly amazed tone as she briefly turned her attention back over to where the two lawyers were giving the principal and vice principal an earful. Turning back to face Trixie, Lori continued, "Not to mention how quickly we got those results."

"Mmm hmm," Trixie said with a nod. After that, Trixie continued, "Hey, I'm having a party at my place on Friday. A lot of the coolest kids here at school are going to be there. You interested in coming?"

The rich pretty girl's offer certainly took Lori by surprise; outside of birthday parties her siblings had and one or two slumber parties that Leni had at their house (Lori was at those parties by virtue of being a resident of the house and a sister of the birthday kid/slumber party host), Lori had never been to a party before. But here Trixie was, inviting her to a party at what was undoubtedly a mansion. Trixie obviously had no idea that in regards to the social hierarchy ladder at RWMS, Lori was at the bottom rung, if not a pebble laying on the ground beneath the bottom rung. The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl could just imagine the looks on the faces of the various vain, petty pretty girls that are bound to be at the party when they see that she, of all people, had been invited.

"I'll…I'll have to ask my mom first if it's okay to go to your party on Friday," Lori replied, still a bit surprised that she had been invited to a party at all.

"Hold on, I'll give you my number so you can call me," Trixie replied as she pulled out a mini spiral-bound notepad. The rich pretty girl wrote out a phone number on the first blank sheet, tore it off, and handed it to Lori. The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl proceeded to do the same, albeit she had to borrow the mini notepad and pencil from Trixie. "Well alright!" Trixie said in a tone that clearly conveyed that she was happy to have apparently made a friend, "I hope see you later, Lori!" Trixie then took her leave, leaving the oldest Loud sibling alone as the crowd of students that had gathered to watch Gilda and Reggie get arrested began to disperse.

Lori still couldn't believe what had happened.

END, AWKWARD HERO CAPTER SIX

Author's notes:

So yeah, Lori not only made a new friend, but she was invited to one of the kinds of parties that would consist of vain, petty, pretty girls and a few cute guys. Things are starting to look up for the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl, don't you think?

Although to be fair, we should wait until _after_ the party concludes.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Awkward Hero

Chapter seven: A surprise debut at a party

"You're going to a party on Friday?"

Lori Loud, a nerdy and awkward twelve-year-old girl, had just arrived home from school after the two usual girls who bullied her, Gilda and Reggie, got arrested thanks to a pretty and popular girl who took a shine to Lori as a friend. After she settled down a bit, Lori told her siblings, plus their mother Rita, about all that happened at school, culminating at the point where Trixie, the aforementioned pretty popular girl, invited her to the party on Friday. It had been Lincoln, Lori's six-year-old younger brother, who had asked about Lori going to a party.

"Yes, Lincoln," Lori replied, "I'm going to a party on Friday. Provided mom says that I can go."

"Well I certainly see no problem with you going to your friend's party," Rita remarked, sounding juts a bit overjoyed that her daughter was being invited to friends' parties now.

With an appreciative nod in Rita's direction, Lori said, "Thanks, mom. I'll just let Trixie know that you gave me the okay to go to her party."

"Wait a minute," Leni began, getting Lori's attention in the process, "Your new friend's name is Trixie? As in Trixie Goldman?"

"Yeah, that's her," Lori replied, "Why do you ask?"

"A lot of the girls at school say that Trixie is, like, the coolest girl at school," Leni explained, "And that she's pretty, and she's always on top of the latest trends."

"That can be said about a lot of girls at our school, Leni," Lori replied dryly, "Not just Trixie."

"Does the party need any entertainment, perhaps?" Luan asked in a tone that was thirty percent inquiring and seventy percent hopeful.

"Luan, sweetie, this is a party that your sister is going to," Rita remarked, "Alright?"

"Okay," the nine-year-old Loud girl replied, sounding mildly disappointed.

"Do you know who else will be at the party, dude?" Luna asked her oldest sister.

"I'm certain that a lot of girls similar to Trixie will be there," Lori began to list off, "And I think a few boys may show up as well. I heard some girls saying how Trixie looked rather interested in getting my friend's twin brother to come." Over at RWMS, Aggro Ace, the twin brother of Lori's friend Allison, was undoubtedly the one boy that practically every girl had the hots for, although Aggro himself had no idea why. It didn't surprise the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl in the least that Trixie would seek him out. Chances are that Trixie also invited Allison, partly because she's Aggro's sister, but mostly because she's a girl in the same age group as Trixie.

From what Lori could tell about Trixie, the rich pretty popular girl just wanted some friends.

* * *

The following day at RWMS, Lori was getting something out of her locker when she heard someone go "Ahem," behind her. Turning around, Lori came face-to-face with a trio of those vain, petty, pretty popular girls that can be seen around the school. "Hey, Loud," the first girl began. This girl had fair skin, wore her black hair long and straight, and wore an outfit many girls in her age group considered fashionable and cute. It was the first girl who had gone 'ahem' and got Lori's attention.

"Can…can I help you?" Lori asked, a confused look on her face.

"The girls here and I heard that you're planning to come to Trixie's party this Friday," the first girl began, clearly sounding like she didn't like the idea of a person like Lori coming to what many considered was going to be one of the biggest events of the current school year. Gesturing to the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl with her right hand, the first girl continued in that same tone, "What are you thinking? You do realize that losers like you aren't allowed to go to events that are exclusive to the students at this school who actually matter, right?"

"Hey, Trixie actually invited me to the party," Lori retorted, sounding just a little bit annoyed, "If you don't believe me, feel free to ask her about it yourself."

"You're right," the first girl continued, a hint of conceitedness in her tone, "I don't believe you. But if you think that I'm going to trouble someone like Trixie about-"

"Hey!" Leni's familiar voice called out at one end of the hallway, sounding like she was glad to see someone. Lori and the three vain, petty, pretty popular girls turned to see Leni come walking up to them.

"Oh, here comes someone who should come to the party rather than you right now," the first girl said to Lori before Leni was within earshot to hear what was being said. When Leni was close enough to the others, the first girl said, "Leni, are we glad to see you. The girls here and I were just trying to-"

"Hold on," Leni said in a casual tone, cutting the first girl off in the process. Pointing to Lori, Leni continued, "I need to, like, ask Lori for some advice about something."

"Uhh," the first girl replied in a confused tone, "Why would you want _her_ advice?"

"Well she's my older sister," Leni began to explain, "So she should, like, know more about things than I do."

"Wait, what?!" the second girl remarked in a surprised tone. This second girl had reddish-orange hair in a chin-length bob cut, and her outfit was just as cute and stylish as that worn by the other two girls.

Pointing to Lori, Leni explained to the other three girls, "Lori here is my older sister. She has been, like, forever." The three vain, petty, pretty popular girls looked back and forth between the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl and Leni, who said that she and Lori were sisters. The three pretty girls continued this switching back and forth between looking at the two Loud girls for about ten seconds or so before any of them said anything. It was the first girl of the trio.

"I'm calling shenanigans," the first girl said, drawing a confused look from Leni.

* * *

The night of the party came sooner than a lot of people were expecting; time really flies when you're having fun getting ready for what was bound to be one of the biggest social events of the school year. Any student at RWMS who was anyone would be at Trixie Goldman's party tonight. So as one could imagine, to see someone at the party who was as low down on the social ladder as that nerdy and awkward loser Lori Loud was at was surprising, to say the least.

The vain, petty, pretty girls from RWMS, all of them social ladder climbers to an extent, were further surprised to hear that what Lori said about having been invited by Trixie was true, although that simmered down a bit when the girls also heard that Lori not only saved Trixie from getting beaten by those brutes Gilda and Reggie, but that the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl had played a role in getting those jerks arrested by the police. That afforded Lori a small measure of tolerance from the in-crowd of RWMS.

As Lori had expected when she arrived at the party, both girls and boys from her school, specifically her current grade of 7th, made up the bulk of the party guests, although there were a few eighth graders. Lori even counted a few sixth graders, although the number of sixth graders at the party could be counted with the fingers on one hand, assuming that hand hadn't been through any accidents, of course.

To Lori's further surprise, both of the Ace twins, Allison and Aggro, along with Aggro's friend Bobby Santiago (who Lori has a crush on) had also been invited to the party. The oldest Loud sibling did remember hearing that Trixie had an interest in getting Aggro, who virtually every girl at RWMS had a crush on, to come to the party, but as for Allison and Bobby, Lori wasn't sure if they were also invited by Trixie, or if they were brought along by some of the vain, petty, pretty girls at the school.

Lori assumed the former, as she doubted that other girls would want to bring Allison along like that; the female Ace twin, as much appreciated as she was for routinely standing up to the various bullies who tried to make the school their personal stomping grounds, was a bit too…warrior-like…for most other girls at the school to want to try and be friends with. And Lori felt that it was most likely that Bobby was at the party because Aggro was somehow able to vouch for him.

"So, there I was," Bobby said as he was telling a group of other boys (Aggro was among that group) a story, "Taking a short-cut through the junk yard to get home from school so I could save some extra time for playing video games, when suddenly, I came across _this_." Bobby pulled out a photo from his pants pocket and showed it to the other boys.

"Whoa, dude!" one of the boys, a somewhat portly kid with dark blonde hair and freckles, "You found a photo?!"

"…What, no," Bobby replied, sounding dumbfounded and mildly annoyed, "I didn't find this photo, I found what is _in_ the photo."

"Oh," the portly boy replied, sounding mildly embarrassed.

"I thought it was really awesome, so I decided to take it home," Bobby said as he continued to tell his story, "I hid it in someplace in my bedroom that I know my little sister Ronnie Anne won't be able to find. Knowing Ronnie Anne, if she knew that I had this, she'd tell our mom the first chance she gets."

"Are you sure hanging onto something like that is the best idea in the world, Bobby?" Aggro asked in a mildly cautious tone, "I mean, the longer you hold onto it, the higher the chance that your nosy little sister will find it and tell your mom about it, if your little sister goes through your room as often as you say she does to look for blackmail to use against you."

"I was thinking about handing it off to either you or one of the boys here," Bobby replied, "After I had it for a bit, of course."

"Heh, how generous of you," Aggro remarked in a mildly amused tone, "And don't worry about me. I'm sure that one of the other guys here would be able to make much better use of it than I ever could." Hearing Aggro pass his turn for whatever it was that Bobby had found drew a bit of cheering from the other boys in the group. From a distance, Lori and Trixie saw the boys talking to each other in that group, although the two girls were too far away to hear what the boys were saying. It didn't help that a few other conversations that were going on at the time were helping to drown out what the boys were saying.

"Hey Lori," Trixie began, "What do you think the boys are talking about?"

With an indifferent shrug, Lori replied, "I have no clue. They're most likely talking about video games or other things that boys like them would be interested in."

"Hey Lori, I want your honest opinion," Trixie began, "Do you think that Aggro and I have a-"

"There you are!" a girl's voice called out, prompting Lori and Trixie to turn and see a trio of some of the vain, petty, pretty girls from RWMS come walking up to them. In fact, it was the same trio that was bothering Lori before, and it had been the first girl of that trio who had called out to the rich pretty girl and the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl. "The girls here and I have been looking all over for you," the first girl said to Trixie, "We just wanted to tell you that you can certainly throw one heck of a party!"

"Oh, thank you," Trixie replied, sounding just a little bit embarrassed due to being praised. This part of Trixie's tone did not go by unnoticed.

"Oh, no need to be so modest, Trixie," the first girl continued in an assuring tone, "This party certainly blows every other party I've been to out of the water by a long stretch! You ought to be a little prouder of yourself for having hosted the biggest event of the year."

"Say, what were you talking to her about?" the second girl asked Trixie while pointing to Lori.

"Oh, I was going to ask Lori if she thought if I had a chance of getting Aggro Ace to like me," Trixie replied, blushing a bit out of embarrassment, "I mean, he's the cutest guy at school. Not only that, but I heard that he's at the top of his classes, and have you seen that sleeveless coat he's taken to wearing? I tried finding one of those at the mall, but I came up empty!"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that myself," the first girl remarked, "Although since Aggro's wearing it, I'm guessing that it's a boy's thing."

"Well there's always a chance that there's a girl variation of that sleeveless coat that Aggro wears," Trixie pointed out, still sounding a bit hopeful.

"Well we can always ask Aggro about his sleeveless coat later," the first girl remarked, "But that's beside the point. Trixie, I'm going to warn you right now." With both Trixie and Lori looking at her, the first girl continued, "You are far from the only girl at school who has her eyes on Aggro. You'll have to compete with virtually every other girl at school, myself included, if you want to get Aggro to like you."

"I see," the rich pretty girl replied. Turning to face Lori, Trixie said with a hint of suspicion in her tone, "You aren't trying to go for Aggro, are you, Lori?"

"Yeah, no," the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl said, "I'm pretty sure that my friend Allison wouldn't like it if I tried flirting with her brother."

"Oh yeah," the second girl of the trio said as she smacked herself in the forehead, "Allison is Aggro's twin sister! How could we forget something like that?!"

"Well it's a good thing that Allison's here at the party," the first girl remarked, "We can start trying to get on her good side. You know, win her over. That way, she wouldn't object if any of us tried to flirt with Aggro." The other two girls nodded in agreement before the trio as a whole took off to find Allison, leaving Lori alone with Trixie.

When she and Trixie were alone, Lori turned to her and said, "Yeah, they're in for a surprise if they think they can get Aggro to like them easily." This drew a bit of a chuckle out of Trixie.

* * *

Later into the party, Lori went to go find the bathroom, having had one cup of punch too many. After she took care of that, the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl was making her way to the staircase that led to the ground floor of the Goldman family's large, stately home so she could get back to the party (the bathroom Lori used was on the second floor). As she made her way over to the staircase, Lori passed a door that was open slightly, just enough to hear what the two men inside were talking about.

"I heard your bid to become mayor of Royal Woods is going pretty smoothly, Buford," the first man's voice remarked. Having heard what that first man said, Lori stopped in place about ten feet or so away from the staircase.

" _Buford_? _Isn_ ' _t that Trixie_ ' _s dad_?" Lori thought, having recognized the name that she heard the first man say.

"Yeah, it helps that I'm pretty much running unopposed," the second voice, which was identified as that of Trixie's dad Buford, replied to the first voice, "It also helps that I'm by far the wealthiest man in the state."

"Well with all of the investments you and the rest of our group have been able to make with the information that only we have access to, it's no wonder," the first voice replied, sounding somewhat smug and assured of himself.

"Be quiet, Richie!" Buford's voice snapped as loudly as he dared; it was still loud enough for the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl that was outside in the hallway to hear. "If word of how we were able to make such profits from our investments gets out, all of us would get into a whole lot of trouble!"

"Oh, relax," the first voice, identified as belonging to a man named Richie, remarked in a calm and casual tone, "We're alone up here, and the only other people at the mansion are your daughter and a bunch of her friends from school, but they're all down stairs at the party, and the music, if you can call that garbage music, that they're playing will drown out anything that we say. There's no chance anyone will hear us."

"It still wouldn't hurt to exercise caution, Richie," Buford's voice said, "Alright?"

"Okay, okay," Richie's voice replied in a tone that showed he understood what his friend was getting at, "Loose lips do sink ships, after all. And the secret to our group's success in raking in profits with our investments is a ship that I would like to see continue to sail!" The two men in the room had a laugh to themselves, unaware that, due to the door of the room they were in being slightly ajar, they were overheard by a certain nerdy twelve-year-old girl, who proceeded to make her way down to the ground floor to return to the party.

Granted, Lori had no idea what Trixie's dad Buford and Buford's associate Richie were talking about, but she still couldn't help but shake the feeling that what they were doing was wrong. Does Trixie know about this? Even so, Lori didn't want to bring it up to the rich pretty girl; she was kind enough to show friendship to Lori, making her one of the two girls in all of RWMS who didn't treat her like something to be avoided and ridiculed. Lori did not want to trouble  
Trixie with this, and she feared losing one of the few friends she had.

…But Lori still couldn't help but shake the feeling that what Mr. Goldman and his friend were doing was wrong. The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl decided to do a little bit of research on the computer when she got home. Or maybe tomorrow morning, depending on how long Lori ended up staying at Trixie's party.

END, AWKWARD HERO CHAPTER SEVEN

Author's notes:

What's this? Lori came across a secret that could potentially get one of the richest men in Royal Woods, a man who is also a candidate for mayor, in serious trouble? Things are certainly starting to heat up around here!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Awkward Hero

Chapter eight: Big trouble in little Royal Woods

The morning after Trixie Goldman's party, Lori Loud, a nerdy and awkward girl who attends Royal Woods Middle School, was in the bedroom she shared with her younger sister Leni at their family's house in Royal Woods, Michigan. Lori was sitting at a folding table that had been set up, with a laptop computer in front of her on the table.

While she was at Trixie's place the previous evening for the party, Lori overheard something while returning from having used the bathroom. She overheard two men, one of them being Trixie's dad Buford, talking about something that, although Lori had no idea what it was that they were talking, troubled the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl. She was a bit tired when she got back from the party last night, but now, being fully rested after a good night's sleep and with a whole weekend off of school ahead of her, Lori had all the time that she needed, and she went to work right away to do her research.

Lori, having no idea what Mr. Goldman and his friend were talking about, decided to type in phrases related to what they were talking about. Lori typed in 'making investments based off of information only you have access to' into the internet search engine, and hit the enter button. After about a second, a number of options popped up for Lori. She ended up clicking a link that said to a page on highly popular encyclopedic website, with the link saying 'insider trading'.

When the page popped up, Lori read what it said; _Insider trading is generally defined as the trading of a company_ ' _s stock by people who have access to information about that company that isn_ ' _t available to the public_. _With insider trading_ , _an investor could potentially make far greater profits in comparison to an investor who does not have access to such information_. _Because this is viewed as an unfair advantage_ , _insider trading is considered illegal_.

" _Well_ , _that answers THAT question_ ," Lori thought as she closed the window to the encyclopedic website she was using. With no windows open on her laptop, Lori pushed back from the table, leaned back slightly in the chair she was sitting in, and let out a sigh; based on what she heard being spoken by Mr. Goldman and his friend the previous evening, combined with what she had just learned from surfing the internet, Lori had deduced that Mr. Goldman, a candidate for mayor of Royal Woods and the father of her new friend Trixie, is guilty of insider trading, a charge that could potentially get him, as well as everyone in his group that he and his friend Richie were talking about the previous evening, into a lot of legal trouble. Lori had no doubt that if the proper authorities knew about this, they'd swoop in and clean up the mess.

…But the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl had no proof that Mr. Goldman and his group were committing insider trading. All that she had to go off of is what she overheard the two men say in private, plus what she learned from her researching on the internet just now. Lori had no idea how to proceed from here. Sighing in a resigned tone, Lori stood up from the chair that she was sitting in and stretched a bit.

Lori getting up like this caught the attention of her six-year-old little brother Lincoln, as well as her and Lincoln's three-year-old little sister Lucy. Both young Loud children were in the bedroom with Lori, playing with stuffed animals while sitting on Leni's bed while Lori was doing her work on her laptop. "Hey, Lori," Lincoln said as he got up off of the edge of Leni's bed and walked over to his oldest sibling, "What were you doing?"

"I was just looking something up on the internet, Lincoln," Lori replied as gently as possible. There as a hint of uncertainty and worry in her tone, but it was too little for the sole Loud boy to pick up on.

"Were you looking up something for a project at school?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah," Lori lied right away, not wanting to trouble her younger siblings with what she had learned, "I was looking up something for a project I have to do concerning the government."

"Govent?" Lucy said in a confused tone as she looked up at the oldest Loud sibling. Due to her limited knowledge and ability to articulate (she's only three-years-old, after all), Lucy had no idea what Lori was talking about.

"It's pronounced 'government', Lucy," Lori replied as she stressed the correct pronunciation to her three-year-old sister, "But yeah. My project for school has to do with the government."

"Can we help?" Lincoln asked as he and Lucy both gave Lori their full attention. In response, Lori let out an amused, good-natured chuckle that clearly indicated she appreciated the offer that her younger siblings were making.

"That's really sweet of you two," Lori replied as she tried to explain what she was dealing with, "And thanks for the offer. But this is something that's way over your heads."

Lori suspected that this was way over _her_ head as well.

"Okay, Lori," Lincoln replied, sounding a little disappointed that Lori, the single coolest person in the history of forever in his opinion, didn't want him around for something. Lori was right away able to pick up on her little brother feeling down. That was not what the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl was aiming to do, so she decided to try and rectify the mistake.

"Aww, cheer up, Lincoln," Lori said gently as she knelt down to be at the white-haired boy's level, "What I was looking up is just way too advanced for a first-grader and a girl who hasn't even reached kindergarten yet. I just didn't want you and Lucy to get overwhelmed is all." Giving the top of Lincoln's head a gentle ruffle, Lori continued, "How about we go into the backyard and play around a bit? How does that sound?"

"Lynn is in the backyard playing with sports, and when Lucy or I play with her, she hurts us," Lincoln replied. This drew a furious bit of nodding from Lucy.

"Well then," Lori began, "How about I take you and Lucy downstairs so you can watch some Saturday morning cartoons?"

"That sounds great!" Lincoln replied enthusiastically.

"Well okay, then," Lori said as she proceeded to lead her six-year-old brother and their three-year-old sister downstairs so they could watch their Saturday morning cartoons. The two younger Loud kids followed their older sister down to the first floor of their family's house. When they reached the sofa, Lincoln offered Lori if she wanted to stay with him and Lucy to watch cartoons with them.

Lori politely declined, saying that she had to do more research on the internet for her project. The two younger Loud kids understood, and after Lori took her leave, Lincoln and Lucy proceeded to watch the first cartoon that Lincoln found on the TV, which about a slightly dark-skinned girl manipulating the elements of water, earth, fire and air. As she climbed up the stairs to head back to her and Leni's room, Lori thought about how she was touched that her younger siblings wanted her to hang out with them, that they saw her as someone to look up to.

Lori knew not letting them in on what she was really researching was a good idea. It's bad enough that what she learned troubled her. Lori did not want Lincoln and Lucy to have to deal with that burden as well.

* * *

The following Monday at RWMS, Lori was in the library with her friend Allison Ace. "So, the rich girl who hosted the party last Friday also has her eyes on Aggro," the female Ace twin remarked, her tone showing a rather notable lack of surprise, "Tell me, what does this Trixie plan to do to try and win my brother's heart? He may follow some sun goddess rather than the Allfather, but Aggro is still a warrior, same as me, meaning therefore he has honor. And one who has honor cannot be won over by a girl trying to buy him using her daddy's money."

"I don't think Trixie is the kind of girl who would try to outright buy someone's love like that," Lori explained, "Although now that you mention it, Trixie has money as an advantage over all of the other girls here at the school. The second richest girl at school is, at most, mid-middle class, and the Goldmans are clearly in the higher parts of upper class."

"You do raise a point," Allison replied as she leaned back in her seat slightly, crossing her arms over her chest, "But there is still something about that Trixie girl that I just don't trust. I don't know what it is, but I can't shake the feeling that there's something foul going on, fouler than any of Loki's mischief."

" _You have no idea how right you are_ ," Lori thought in regards to what Allison just said. Speaking out loud, Lori said in a casual tone, "Allison, you're just being a little paranoid. You're just worried, given she has a lot of things in common with the various girls here at school who like to pick on me, that Trixie might do the same."

"Well I would be forced to put the fear of Odin into her if she crosses that line," Allison replied.

"Heh," Lori remarked with a hint of a laugh in her tone, a good-natured laugh that showed that the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl appreciated the concern her Viking of a friend had for her, "You never change, Allison." Leaning forward just a little bit, Lori continued, "Don't worry, Allison. I can tell that Trixie won't act like those other girls. There's good in her, I can-"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" two young female voices cried out, clearly sounding freaked out over something bad happening. Turing around, Lori and Allison saw two eighth-grade girls, who had just entered the library, having freak-outs, which were loud and vocal enough to prompt the librarian to give them the traditional librarian's cue to hush up.

"…What the Hel is up with them?" Allison muttered in a confused tone as she got up to go over to the two eighth-grade girls, with Lori following her. When she and Lori reached the eighth graders, Allison asked, "Mind enlightening us about why you just tried to split the ears of all of us here in the library just now?"

"Did you not hear?!" the first eighth grader replied, sounding a little surprised at the notion of someone not knowing why she and her friend were panicking, "Royal Woods is going to become the lamest place ever!"

"What do you mean?" Lori began, a confused look on her face.

"The Royal Woods Mall is going to be shut down!" the second eighth grader replied, "The hottest place in this city is going to be taken off the map!"

"The mall's going to be shut down?" Lori repeated in a confused tone. Lori did not know what to make of this; sure, a nerdy and awkward girl like her didn't go to the mall all that often, but even so, it would trouble Lori if the Royal Woods Mall was gone. Shaking her head gently, Lori said to the two eighth graders, "There has to be some mistake. There's no way that the Royal Woods Mall would be shut down like that. Not only would it anger a lot of the people living here, but it would lose Royal Woods a lot of jobs."

"Aye, Lori's got a point," Allison remarked, "This is obviously some manner of mischief."

"You call _this_ mischief?!" the first eighth grader replied as she pulled out a smart phone, used it to access something online, and then turned the phone around to show Lori and Allison what was on the screen. What the two seventh grade girls saw was a local news report that shocked them;

 _ROYAL WOODS MALL TO SHUT DOORS INDEFINITELY_?! _By G_. _G_. _Freeman_

 _Royal Woods mayoral candidate Buford Goldman has announced plans of having the Royal Woods Mall shut down if he becomes mayor_ , _citing that the move is a part of a plan he has to bolster Royal Woods_ ' _s economic strength in the long run_. _Although some local economists claim that candidate Goldman's plan is sound_ , _many people in the Royal Woods area are voicing strong objections to the idea of losing the Royal Woods Mall_. _If it wasn_ ' _t for the fact that he is currently running unopposed, candidate Goldman_ ' _s campaign would have taken a serious hit to the support it has from the citizens_.

"…This can't be real," Lori said in a mildly worried tone, "He can't just have the mall shut down like that!"

"Well the only way to stop Trixie's dad would be if someone else ran for mayor, and that someone else promised not to have the mall shut down," the first eighth grader replied, "Practically everyone would vote for that guy if it meant we get to keep the mall. But since Trixie's dad is running unopposed, who can stop him?"

"Wait a minute," Allison began, "Does Trixie know about this?"

"She does, and she swears that she'd fight along side the rest of us to try and convince her dad not to go through with his plan to shut down the mall," the second girl explained, "At least not _all_ of the Goldmans are insane."

"Well that's a relief," Lori remarked, breathing a bit in a relieved manner.

"Even so, we can't afford to do nothing," the second girl went on, "We have to get word about this out to everyone. The more people who knows about this, the better."

"My older sister goes to Royal Woods High," the first girl said, "I can call her and let her know what's going on. She's bound to get some of the other students over at her school to help support saving the mall."

"There's no time to waste," the second girl said to her companion, and before Lori or Allison could say anything else to them, the two eighth graders left the library. Once they were alone, Lori and Allison turned to face each other.

"…Not even Loki would come up with a plan so foul as to have Royal Woods Mall shut down indefinitely," Allison said to her friend, the female Ace twin's tone serious and mildly grim, "We cannot allow this to pass."

"You got a point about that," Lori remarked as she nodded once in an agreeing manner. Turning to leave the library, Lori said, "Come on. We've got to go find Trixie."

"A wise idea," Allison said, "Although she be the heir to madness, Trixie herself is anything but, and those two older girls did say that Trixie is firmly against the very idea of losing the mall. She may be able to provide us with an insight on the matter that others outside of her family simply can't fathom." Once they both gathered their backpacks from the table that they left them at, Lori and Allison took their leave from the RWMS library to go find Trixie.

* * *

"I know, I know," Trixie said later when she was found by Lori and Allison, "My dad is being super dumb with his idea to have the mall shut down."

"Can't you convince your dad to not shut the mall down?" Lori asked. In response to the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl's question, Trixie simply shook her head in the negative.

"I'm sorry, Lori," Trixie replied sympathetically, "Trust me, I was the very first person to hear about my dad's plan, and when I did, I immediately pleaded for him to not have the mall shut down. But my dad is just too darn stubborn to budge."

"This plan of your father's can only be carried out if he becomes the mayor or Royal Woods, right?" Allison asked, and after getting a nod in the affirmative from Trixie, Allison continued, "Then with that being the case, all we have to figure out is a way to make it so that your father cannot become mayor."

"My dad is running unopposed," Trixie pointed out in a mildly somber tone, "So unless someone who promises not to have the mall shut down decided to run against him in the upcoming mayoral elections, I highly doubt that my dad won't become mayor." After the three girls were silent for a few seconds, Trixie added, "Oh, I doubt that my dad could become mayor if he does something to get himself arrested. I mean, can someone running for a political office earn that office if they get arrested beforehand?"

After Trixie had brought up that last part, Lori was suddenly struck by a slew of memories of what she had learned over the last few days. The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl was adding the pieces up in her head as Trixie and Allison talked to each other, but after about a minute, Lori had come up with an idea that might just work.

"Trixie," Lori began, her tone carrying a noticeable hint of seriousness. Lori having suddenly spoken up like that caught the attention of both Trixie and Allison, who both turned their heads to regard the oldest Loud sibling.

"What's up, Lori?" Trixie asked.

"What I'm about to say might offend you," Lori began in a cautious tone of warning, "But it's the best bet that Royal Woods has if it's to keep the mall."

With a mildly unsure look on her face, Trixie asked in a tone that carried a hint of hesitance, "What is it?"

"If it really was the only way to save Royal Woods Mall," Lori said, "Would you be okay with your dad getting arrested?" Predictably, Trixie was shocked by this idea, and the step back that she took highlighted that shock.

"What do you mean?!" Trixie asked, "Are we going to try and get my dad arrested?! My dad would never forgive me if I framed him for a crime he didn't commit!"

"Then it's a good thing that we don't have to frame your dad for a crime," Lori replied in an assured tone. Catching the kind of tone that Lori had just used, Trixie calmed down a bit. The rich pretty girl didn't calm down by much, but the chance was noticeable in her expression.

"What…what do you mean?" Trixie asked, sounding like she wasn't going to like what Lori had to say.

"When I was at your party last Friday," the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl began, "I overheard your dad and a friend of his talking about something as I was on my way back from the bathroom since the door to the room they were in was open just enough for me to hear them. I had no idea about that they were talking about, so the following morning, I looked up a few of the things they were talking about." With a bit of a resigned sigh, Lori said, "I'm pretty sure that your dad, his friend, and the whole of their group are guilty of insider trading."

Upon hearing what Lori had said, Trixie gasped in shocked, and maintained a shocked expression for a few seconds. Slowly, the shocked expression melted away, replaced with one of resignation. "I…I actually know what insider trading is," Trixie said in a mildly somber tone, "My dad told me about it, and he told me that the only people who commit insider trading like to cheat the economy." A few stray tears fell from the rich pretty girl's eyes. "To…to think that my own dad would do something to soil his integrity like that…" Trixie said softly in a somber tone, her words barely hearable by Lori and Allison.

Seeing the rich pretty girl was crying now, Allison turned to face Lori. "I'm assuming that you have no proof of what you overheard Mr. Goldman say," the female Ace twin said to her nerdy and awkward friend.

"Unfortunately, no," Lori replied, "We need proof that what I overheard Trixie's dad say is true. Otherwise, nothing can be done."

"I have a plan," Trixie said suddenly, getting both Lori and Allison to turn and face her. The rich pretty girl still has a few tears falling down the sides of her face, but her expression wasn't one of sadness. Rather, Trixie's expression was one of determination. This sudden change piqued both Lori's and Allison's interest.

"It's going to be a bit risky," Trixie said as she began to explain her plan, "And we're going to need an adult to help us. Luckily for us, my Aunt Tara should be able to fill that role. She never really liked my dad, saying that it was his fault that he and my mom got divorced. My Aunt Tara also has a few friends in law enforcement who can help with setting up the plan. All we have to do is visit Aunt Tara, tell her about what we've heard, and ask her for her help."

"You…you do realize that if your dad _does_ get in trouble for his insider trading," Lori began in a serious tone, "You can kiss being in the upper-class good-bye, right?"

"I'll need a bit of prep time to get ready for the change in life," Trixie remarked to her friend, "But yeah. My dad may not live by what he taught me, but I certainly intend to do so."

The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl smiled in a confident manner; she _knew_ that she could count on Trixie to pull through. "…Well alright, then," Lori said to Trixie and Allison, "Looks like we got some work ahead of us."

END, AWKWARD HERO CHAPTER EIGHT

Author's notes:

Things are going to begin to wind down here. At most, I predict that there will be two more chapters after this one, maybe three. For those of you who are familiar enough with 'Restored Image', another one of my Loud House stories, there was some talk about how the only reason Lori did what she did was because if anyone else were to try it, they'd seriously risk their reputation among the social circles of the RWMS and RWHS student bodies; Lori, who doesn't actually have a reputation that was worth risking, would be able to go through with what she did without worries.

I have two ideas on how to handle this; either I go into detail in the next chapter about how Lori not having a reputation at this point makes her the ideal candidate to go through with this plan, or I decide to just retcon the reason behind Lori doing what she did (or in this story's setting, what she is about to do). I strongly hesitate to pull a retcon like that, so I'm going to try aiming for the former idea.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Awkward Hero

Chapter nine: To topple a king

The student population of Royal Woods Middle School, as well as the student body over at Royal Woods High School, were dreading what was coming to pass. Buford Goldman, a wealthy man who was running for mayor of Royal Woods, said that as part of his plan to strengthen Royal Woods's economic strength in the long run, the Royal Woods Mall would be shut down. As one of the few hot spots in Royal Woods as a whole, the loss of the mall would not only be a source of wide-spread depression among the seventeen-and-under population, but the supposed good that Buford was talking about might not be enough when it finally takes place.

At least the loss of the mall won't take place until _after_ Buford Goldman becomes mayor, meaning that all that has to happen to save the mall would be Buford not winning. …But since he was currently running unopposed, his victory in the mayoral elections was assured. Even if everyone complaining about the potential loss of the mall were of voting age, there was only one option to vote for. There are others also lamenting the possible loss of the Royal Woods Mall, mostly people who work there. A fair percentage of that group were old enough to vote, but with Buford as the only option to vote for, they were likewise in just as tight of a spot.

Over at RWMS, Lori Loud, a nerdy and awkward twelve-year-old girl, was hanging out with Allison Ace, a close friend of hers, as they watched Trixie Goldman, the daughter of the aforementioned Buford, talking to some other girls. Trixie and the girls she was talking to were all had the looks of the vain, petty, pretty popular girls who delighted in making life at school for girls of Lori's status and appearance a living hell. Although all of that applied to the two girls Trixie was talking to, as for Trixie herself, only the pretty and popular parts applied. She was not vain or petty, and she certainly did nothing cruel to Lori. In fact, the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl felt that Trixie might be an honest and true friend.

…Which is why Lori was feeling all the more horrible over what Trixie was going through. Her dad, who was running for mayor, was planning on having the coolest place in Royal Woods shut down, and the only way to stop him would be to keep him from becoming mayor. But since he was running unopposed, the only conceivable way to save both the mall and the day would be if Trixie's dad was arrested, because who can obtain a political office if they get arrested? At least no one even had to try and frame Buford Goldman for a crime; Lori discovered (by accident) while she was at a party Trixie was holding that the mayoral candidate was guilty of something Lori was later able to identify as insider trading. All that had to happen was to have this proved.

…But if this is proved, then not only would Trixie more or less lose her father, but the rich girl could kiss being rich good-bye. Trixie, who was in on and even trying to help out Lori's plan to save the Royal Woods Mall, said that she would be taking steps to ready herself for the change in lifestyle that would come from falling down from upper class. Still, Lori could not help but feel bad that Trixie, how had done no wrong, was going to be punished anyway. The hell kind of a friend was Lori? No wonder the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl only had one friend, if this was the way she treated those who she wanted to be friends with. Lori was inwardly shaming herself for what she was going to be putting Trixie through.

Allison, who stood next to the oldest Loud sibling, noticed the conflicted look on her face. "Lori, you beat yourself up unnecessarily," the Viking of RWMS said to her friend, "You bear no dishonor for what is about to come to pass. Trixie's father is guilty of a great crime, and to bring what he's done, what he's currently doing, to the attention of those who can bring him to justice is the right thing to do."

"Yeah, I know," Lori replied, close to crying softly over how bad she feels, "But…but Trixie, as you would put it, bears no dishonor either. She doesn't deserve what's about to happen to her."

"Aye, you are wise as always, Lori," Allison remarked, her tone carrying a mild hint of grimness aimed at the predicament Trixie was in, "Tis always a shame when a child has to endure some form of punishment because of what their father did." Looking over to where Trixie was talking to the other two girls, Allison continued, "In fact, I'd say that Trixie is already suffering."

"What do you mean?" Lori asked, a mildly confused look on her face.

"Look," Allison said as she pointed in the direction of Trixie and the other pretty popular girls. As the three girls over there talked, Allison explained, "Those two girls are speaking with Trixie as if they were affording her the highest of respect. It may take a bit of perception, but you can tell that those girls are doing so because they are afraid of showing her anything less. They are afraid of getting on Trixie's wrong side, even though she has the appearance of being their equal." Rolling her shoulders around a bit, Allison continued, "And it's not just those two over there, either. I have seen many instances after news broke out about the closing of Royal Woods Mall of students here at the school acting respectful towards Trixie, but that they had some underlying hint of fright over what might happen if they so much as scuff Trixie's shoes. If she were _just_ an appearance-obsessed socialite like the harlots who delight in making you suffer, then Trixie might not be as feared. But Trixie has money, and a lot of it. She _did_ get that duo of brutish girls arrested, did she not?"

"Well Gilda and Reggie were trying to beat her up or something else like that," Lori pointed out, "And Trixie was moved to have those brutes arrested only after I told her about everything that they did to me last school year."

"That is beside the point," Allison said, "The point is that Trixie is the closest thing here that we got to having a celebrity. Common folk aren't allowed to so much as scratch them." The Viking of RWMS leaned her back against the wall that she and Lori stood along, folded her arms over her chest, and continued, "To besmirch one who is so much higher than them on the social ladder that all of them obsess over would bring the one who does the besmirching so down low on said social ladder that they would become pariahs, forever banished from the good graces of everyone here at the school. They fear losing their reputations."

"…Is that so," Lori remarked, her tone oddly calm.

"It is my brother's assessment of the situation," Allison admitted, "Albeit not his exact words."

"But it's what those other girls are dealing with, right?" Lori went on, "They still treat Trixie as queen of the school because they think that acting out against her would result in them becoming and staying unpopular."

"…More or less," Allison agreed, "Although I can tell that Trixie feels guilty that she's still being afforded the highest of respect. Unlike the other petty girls who are always climbing the social ladder, Trixie actually has honor."

"But it still doesn't change the fact that the others are afraid of trying to act against Trixie out of fear of losing their reputations," Lori said.

"…Indeed," Allison replied, not quite sure where Lori was going with this.

"Well, that's all the more reason for me to have to take the initiative here," Lori began to explain, "I have no such fear of losing my reputation." With a resigned, knowing sigh, the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl said, "Because I don't really _have_ a reputation. Or at least a reputation that's worth losing."

"Heh," Allison chuckled in a good-natured tone. Giving Lori a gentle clap on the back, the female Ace twin said, "I bet that those girls and the various other students here at the school who've previously shunned you will flock to you once word gets out that Lori Loud is the reason why the Royal Woods Mall was saved."

"…You…you really think?" Lori asked, the very idea of her becoming popular overwhelming the oldest Loud sibling.

"It's another matter for another time," Allison remarked, "For now, we ought to focus on the battle that we have ahead of us."

"…Yeah," Lori replied, knowing that her friend had an excellent point. Lori did not like what was ahead of her and everyone else, but it had to be done. If left alone, then the Royal Woods Mall would cease to be.

Royal Woods, effectively, would cease to be.

* * *

Later, Lori, Allison and Trixie were over at Trixie's Aunt Tara's place, a moderate but lovely enough one-story house that, surprisingly enough, was in the same neighborhood that Lori and Allison both lived in. Tara was a woman in her very early thirties at most, with fair skin, long reddish-brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a baggy green t-shirt under a white long-sleeved shirt (the ends of the sleeves hung loosely about the wrists, not cling tightly to them), a pair of tan pants, and white shoes. Tara seemed less like Trixie's aunt and more like an older sister or cousin.

The three seventh-grade girls sat on a sofa in front a plush leather armchair that Tara sat in; Trixie sat in the middle, with Lori on her left and Allison on her right (that puts Lori on the right of Tara's view and Allison on the left of her view). The youthful-looking aunt drained a can of cola dry as she listened to what the girls had to say. Sighing in a knowing but resigned tone, Tara said, "I always had a hunch that your father wasn't as holier-than-thou as he portrayed himself, Trixie. But to think that he would actually go far enough to do something illegal…"

Shaking her head gently, Tara continued, "Once again I'm finding difficulty in how my sister could have married that man in the first place. The first smart thing she ever did after marrying him was to divorce his sorry rear end…" Looking up to the middle schoolers, Tara said, "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to go on a tangent there. It's just that whenever the subject of your father is on the table, I can't help but get a little worked up."

"I…I can't really blame you, Aunt Tara," Trixie replied, "My dad was a bit too focused on advancing his career and position." Looking down to her lap, Trixie placed her hands over her knees, griping them gently. "…I'm still a little upset that his obsession with advancing his position drove mom to divorce him and move to who knows where. I haven't seen or spoken to mom in over three years…" Tears then began to fall down the sides of Trixie's face, gently falling onto her lap, like the pitter-pattering of raindrops.

Tara sighed in a resigned tone, knowing that her niece would get like this. Leaning forward to bring herself closer to the seventh-graders, Tara, with her forearms on her knees, said, "Look, girls. I can understand that this is something that will be very difficult for you to deal with." With a sideways glance to Trixie, Tara added, "Some more than others." Bringing her attention back the girls as a whole, Tara continued, "But this is something that has to be done. What Buford is doing is not only wrong, but illegal. He has to be brought to justice. I ought to commend all three of you for taking such a risk in order to do the right thing."

"T-thanks, miss," Lori replied, surprised that someone was praising her in such a manner. Granted, Lori was part of a group that was being praised as a whole, but the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl was still being praised.

"So, what are we going to do?" Allison asked.

"Well first off, we need proof of what he's doing," Tara replied as she leaned back in her seat, folding her arms over her chest, "I figure the best way is to plant hidden recording devices in whatever room he and his fellows have their meetings in at the Goldman mansion."

"That would be a den that doubles as my dad's at-home office," Trixie remarked. With a gentle shake of her head, Trixie continued, "But planting a hidden recording device in there won't be all that easy. Dad is really strict about who goes in there and who doesn't go in there. The only ones allowed to go into the den slash office are dad himself, his friends, and Stanley Hobson, who is one of the butlers."

"Hobson?" Tara remarked, "A name like that makes him sound like a stereotypical butler."

"Actually, his real name is Zack Skinner," Trixie explained, "He just uses the name Stanley Hobson while working because my dad wanted a butler who was as butler-y as possible."

"…I'm liking the kind of person your dad is less and less," Tara deadpanned to her niece.

"At least you don't have to live with a person who holds you to standards that he won't hold himself to," Trixie deadpanned back. Gently shaking her head, Trixie continued in a serious tone, "But we're getting off subject here. Given how the den slash office is always locked other than when he's using it, there's virtually no way to get in and plant a hidden recording device."

"He keeps the office locked?" Tara repeated in a mildly curious tone, "What kind of lock does he use? Some sort of electronic lock?"

Gently shaking her head in the negative, Trixie replied, "No, it's a key lock. There's a keyhole in the doorknob to the den slash office." With a sigh, Trixie continued with a hint of somberness in her tone, "I can't even remember the last time I saw that door open. But given what we're talking about here, I can see why my dad would want to keep that door locked all the time."

"It certainly wasn't locked when I walked past it when I was at your party," Lori remarked as she turned to face the rich pretty girl, "In fact, it was open by a slight crack. At least enough for me to hear what we're talking about right now."

"True," Tara commented, "But with what Trixie had just said, I highly doubt that an opportunity like that will pop up." Giving the three seventh-grade girls a serious look as she leaned forward again, resting her forearms on her knees once more, Tara said, "We're going to have to come up with something to distract my brother-in-law."

"We're going to try and distract dad?" Trixie asked, "How are we going to do that?"

"I have an idea," Tara began, "But first I want to clear something with you."

"What is it?" Trixie asked her aunt.

"About that Zack guy who has to act like a stereotypical butler because it amuses your dad," Tara began, "On a scale of one to ten, with one not being all that much and ten being a whole lot, how much can we count on Zack if we decided to use him as part of my plan?"

"Seventy-four," Trixie replied without missing a beat, "He really hates having to put up with all of the brownnosing my dad more or less forces him to do."

With an amused smile on her face, Tara said, "Well then, dear niece of mine, it looks like the plan that I have in mind will work smoothly."

* * *

"I still can't believe it," Buford Goldman said to two of his friends and fellows in business, Paul Stone and Hank Harrison, as the three men were discussing business in Buford's private office, more or less a converted den, later that evening. Buford himself was something of an imposing figure; about as tall as Lynn Loud Sr., but with a more well-fed appearance (though he was by no means obese). Buford, like Paul and Hank, wore a business suit, his being a shade of blue so dark that some would mistake it for a shade of black. The shoes themselves were black, though. Like his daughter, Buford had the same skin tone and hair color.

Paul was the same height as Buford, but somewhat thinner. Paul was fair-skinned and had very light brown hair that was combed back. Paul's suit was full-blown black. Hank was also fair-skinned and wore a black business suit, but his hair was black and trimmed to a medium-long length. The three men were standing around Buford's office slash den, talking about something that had just happened.

"Seriously," Buford went on, "After all of the time that he worked for me, I'd figure that Stanley was a fine and upstanding fellow. But for the police to come by and arrest him, and then me finding out _why_ they were arresting him?" Gently shaking his head to convey disappointment, Buford continued, "I guess this means that I have to do more thorough background checks on the people I hire to work for me."

"Good people are just so hard to find now and days," Paul remarked, his tone clearly conveying that he agreed with his fellow wholeheartedly.

"It was a rather unsettling revelation, to be sure," Hank said, "But we've got more important things to do than dwell on unpleasentries."

"You're right," Buford replied, giving his fellow a nod of acknowledgement. Straightening himself up a bit, Buford continued, "So, tell me, men. How are our investments looking?"

With a mildly amused look on his face, Hank replied, "As great as they've always looked. In fact, our investments in the electronics market…" The three men went on for the next few minutes about their various investments, investments that they made based on information that only they know about. As the three men talked, none of them were aware of the fact that, hidden in the fake plant in the office, there was a small microphone device.

A small microphone device that was transmitting everything that the three men were saying to a police van parked near the entrance to the exclusive neighborhood where the Goldman mansion was located.

…

Many folks from all over the exclusive neighborhood, and even a few from outside, came and watched as Buford Goldman, Paul Stone and Hank Harrison were all being arrested and loaded into the back of police cruisers. After the police heard what the three men were talking about, an investigation was launched, and it confirmed that the three men in question were, in fact, guilty of insider trading. A few other men who were also part of Buford's group were similarly under investigation, even though they had no part of Buford's insider trading; in fact, one of the men had no idea what Buford was even doing.

As the three men were being arrested, a news van that was parked near the Goldman mansion opened up, and a male, casually dressed news reporter and two other men, one of them holding a camera, got out. After the three men finished setting themselves up, the news reporter was handed a microphone by the extra man that wasn't the cameraman. After the cameraman waved a hand to give the news reporter the cue, the news reporter said, "Breaking news! I'm reporting live from outside of the residence of Buford Goldman, the only candidate in the upcoming mayoral elections here in Royal Woods, where Buford has just been arrested after it was found out that he had committed in-"

The news reporter was cut off when Buford shouted, "I want a lawyer! I've done nothing illegal! I was framed!" Looking over, the news reporter, the cameraman and the third guy saw Buford struggle as a police officer had to more or less shove him into the back of the police cruiser. After the mayoral candidate was pushed all the way in, the door was closed by the officer who forced him into the back of the cruiser.

Turning back to face the cameraman, the news reporter gestured for him to turn back around. With the camera on him again, the news reporter continued, "Although Buford's appearance in court is still a bit away, one thing is for certain; Buford Goldman can kiss becoming mayor good-bye. We'll bring you more as this news story develops."

* * *

"Just so you know," one of the vain, petty, pretty popular girls at RWMS said to Trixie the morning after Trixie's dad was arrested, "We aren't going to hold anything against you. Likewise, we aren't going to grill you just because you went from upper upper-class to lower middle class overnight." This caught Trixie by surprise; she no longer had the blanket of protection that was money to keep people who were afraid of giving her grief, and she had little doubt that there would be those who, now that Trixie's protection was gone, would jump at the chance to tear into her because of how her relation nearly cost Royal Woods its mall. She also expected to be teased for how she dropped to a much lower social class overnight.

Shaking her head gently, the pretty girl that was talking to Trixie continued, "You had nothing to do with what your dad had planned for the mall if he became mayor, and you even actively protested it along side the rest of us. Furthermore, despite what your dad had planned for the mall and the fact that he was arrested, he was still your dad. Not having him around cannot be a good thing to deal with."

"What did your dad do again?" a second vain, petty, pretty popular girl asked, clearly looking confused, "Something about ripping someone off in a trade?"

"It was insider trading," Trixie confirmed, understanding that this second girl was confused, curious, and just wanted to clear up an issue. She didn't mean any offence. With a sigh, Trixie continued, "After all my dad told me, all that he taught me, I still can't believe that he would go against what he was preaching to me." Gently shaking her head, Trixie added, "When I found out what my dad did, despite how much it hurt me, I knew that what he did had to be brought to the attention of the proper authorities."

"Yeah, I have no doubt that what you did was tough," the first petty girl remarked.

With a shrug, Trixie said casually, "But hey, at least my dad can't have the mall shut down now, since him becoming mayor is pretty much not going to happen."

"That's right!" a third pretty girl said in a tone of realization, "The mall isn't going to get shut down!"

"Yeah!" the first pretty girl remarked, "Trixie saved the mall!"

The pretty girls who had gathered to talk to Trixie started cheering for her, but Trixie quickly got them to calm down. "Actually," Trixie began to say, "I only had a partial role in this at best. If it wasn't for Lori overhearing something my dad said in his office as she walked past it while I had that party, then her looking into what my dad had said, I never would have known what my dad was doing." Gently shaking her head, Trixie continued, "He'd still be gunning for mayor right now if Lori hadn't been lucky."

"Umm, quick question, Trixie," the second pretty girl said, "Who the heck is Lori?"

"That would be me," Lori's voice called out, getting Trixie to turn around and the three pretty girls to look over. As such, they all saw Lori and Allison walk over to them, with Lori having a hand raised in the air for a bit until the girls all saw her. After seeing the three pretty girls get gobsmacked looks of shock on their face, Lori lowered her arm.

Pointing to Lori, Trixie said to the pretty girls, "Yeah, girls. Lori here is the reason why Royal Woods is going to keep its mall."

"H…her?!" the first pretty girl said in an almost incredulous tone as she pointed at Lori, clearly not believing what she was being told. This nerdy, awkward loser is the reason why the mall will be staying open?!

"Aye," Allison remarked as she nodded while crossing her arms over her chest, "It is thanks to Lori that the mall will go on to see more days."

"I…" the first pretty girl said, "…I can't believe it."

"You should," Trixie replied, "Because it's true. Lori saved the mall." The three pretty girls turned to face each other, exchanging looks. After a few seconds, the three girls all turned to face Trixie, Allison and Lori again.

"Umm…" the first pretty girl began in a mildly uncertain tone, "…Thanks, Lori. This town would have lost its mall if it wasn't for you. Also, sorry about all of the things the other girls and I have done to you overtime. We won't do any of that stuff to you anymore."

"Umm…sure," Lori replied, similarly unsure of what to say; the vain, petty, pretty popular girls were not only showing gratitude to her, but they were also being apologetic. Never did the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl ever expect to actually be treated as an actual person by the girls who practically commanded the social ladder of RWMS.

"H-hey," the first pretty girl began somewhat hesitantly, "This may seem out of the blue, but would you be interested in coming with us to the mall after school? We were also thinking of hitting up the mini golf course afterwards."

"We're actually inviting her to the mall with us?" the third pretty girl asked, sounding mildly confused and a little condescending towards Lori.

The first pretty girl turned to face her friend, shooting her a mild scowl. "The mall is going to be staying around thanks to her," the first pretty girl began in a mild scolding tone, "And there's also the fact that the way we treated her in the past, along with the reason why we treated her that way, is wrong." The third pretty girl, along with the second, both looked like they were relenting. They both also showed mild hints of guilt. Smiling since she knew she got through to her friends, the first pretty girl turned back around to face Lori, Trixie and Allison. "So how about it?" the first pretty girl asked, "Heck, Trixie and Allison can come as well."

"If I do come along, I'll have to pick up my golf club from home," Allison remarked, "I refuse to use any other."

"You play golf, Allison?" the second pretty girl asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"Whenever I can convince her to join me when I head to the mini golf course," Lori explained, "I swear, Allison is one of the best people at golf that I know. In fact, Allison once won a round of regular golf where she competed against my dad." Rubbing the back of her head in a manner that conveyed a mild hint of embarrassment, Lori added, "I was there when the game happened, and it was kind of one-sided in Allison's favor."

"Wow, okay," the first pretty girl said, "Now we _have_ to head to the mini golf course after out trip to the mall. I wanna see if Allison is as good as I'm hearing."

"Well then we'll have to stop at my place really quick so I can grab my golf club," Allison replied, trying to leave no room to argue.

"Heh," Lori laughed in a good-natured tone, "This sounds like it's going to be fun. I'm actually kind of looking forward to it." The three pretty girls, along with Trixie and Allison, all cheered as Lori essentially just agreed to the fun after school that day. Lori was likewise happy; after all of what she went through, after all of the time she spent being an outcast, it was clear that Lori had finally gained acceptance at school.

…But in gaining that acceptance, what would Lori _lose_?

END, AWKWARD HERO CHAPTER NINE

Author's notes:

Yes, yes, yes. The day had been saved, Lori is a hero to the student populace of RWMS, and now she's being accepted by the people who once shunned her simply because of how she looks. Anywho, the next chapter, without giving away too much, will see a certain transformation. One that is on more than just one level. The next chapter will also see something break.

Also, in case you haven't noticed, I decided to change the story's description.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Awkward Hero

Chapter ten: Frightening Evolution

Some of the younger siblings of Lori Loud were wondering when their older sister would get back from hanging out with her friends. …Well, Leni and Lincoln were the only ones who were really waiting for Lori to get back. Luna was just curious as to what was keeping Lori occupied for so long, especially considering the fact that her nerdy older sister doesn't have enough friends to keep her out for as long as she's been kept out. Luan and Lynn were both occupied doing their respective things, Lucy was only waiting around for Lori to get back because Lincoln was doing so, and the twins Lana and Lola were both babies, and they had just been put down for a nap, so neither of them knew anything at all.

"You don't think that Lori forgot where we live, do you?" Leni asked her younger siblings that were with her.

"I highly doubt it, brah," replied ten-year-old Luna as she gently shook her head in the negative, "It's clear she just lost track of time."

"Don't worry," Lincoln said in a confident tone, "I'm certain that-" Lincoln was cut off when the front door opened and a girl that…vaguely resembled Lori walked in. She didn't wear glasses, she no longer had a unibrow more or less going (in fact, her eyebrows were now thin and respectable on a girl), her face was entirely clear, she no longer had the white heart-shaped earrings in her ears or the red little hairclips in her hair, and the collared sleeveless shirt she wore was now replaced with a light blue tank top. When her younger siblings who saw her enter the house looked surprised, Lori shot them a curious look.

"…What?" Lori asked, her voice instantly recognized by her younger siblings, "You all don't recognize your own older sister?"

"Lori?" Leni began in a surprised tone, "Is that, like, you?" As Lori closed the door behind her, Leni, Luna and Lincoln, with Lucy closely following behind the sole loud boy, came up to the oldest of their number. "Wow, you look totes different!" Leni remarked, "Did you, like, get a makeover or something?"

"Yeah," Lori replied, "Some new friends of mine wanted to give me a makeover." With a mildly unsure look on her face, Lori asked, "What do you think?"

"It's totes awesome," Leni replied in an enthusiastic tone, "Makes me wish I was there so I could have had a hand in your makeover!"

"Yeah, now boys at your school will think you look pretty," Luna remarked casually, "Maybe now you'll get a boyfriend."

"Lori was always pretty," Lincoln said as he turned to face his musically inclined older sister.

"What makes you say that, little dude?" Luna asked her six-year-old younger brother, a mildly incredulous look on her face.

"Because she is Lori," Lincoln replied, as if he thought his answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Looey," Lucy said, still having a bit of trouble with articulating given her young age.

"Hey Lori," Lincoln began, "Now that you are home, do you want to-"

"Hold that thought," Lori interrupted, holding her right index finger out to Lincoln in a gesture to convey that she wanted him to be quiet, "I just stopped by to pick something up before I headed back out again. My friends and I are all heading to Tana's place because she wants to show off the new dog that her family got. She says that it's the cutest thing ever!"

"Umm…okay?" Lincoln replied, more or less confused as he watched his oldest sister walk up the stairs to the second floor to head to her and Leni's room. About a minute later, Lori came back down the stairs, and without saying a word to any of her younger siblings, she was out the door again. "She…she's going to come back, right?" Lincoln asked, the barest hint of worry in his six-year-old tone.

"I'm…not sure about that, little dude," Luna replied as she, Lincoln and Leni continued to stare at the front door that Lori closed behind her as she left not ten seconds previous. Lucy wasn't paying attention to the door, so much as she was hugging her older brother, who she thought to be the most awesome person ever.

* * *

The following day, Leni was keeping an eye on Lincoln and Lucy as the two younger Louds were drawing on sheets of paper in the living room. Although the ditzy Loud sister was more than glad to watch over her younger siblings (Linky especially), Leni could not help but feel a bit puzzled; doesn't the task of looking after the youngest of the Loud siblings' number usually fall to Lori? Sure, Leni's pretty older sister said that she was busy with something, but even so, she always tried to make time for-

All of Leni's thought where interrupted when a loud guitar rift, clearly Luna's doing, came from the garage, startling Leni, as well as Lincoln and Lucy. Luna's guitar rift must have also startled the twins, because Leni began to hear a pair of cries coming from the bedroom upstairs that had been turned into a nursery for the twins.

"Doesn't Luna know better than to play her music when Lola and Lana are sleeping?" Lincoln had to shout to his older sister so he could be heard over the mix of Luna's music and the crying from the twins.

"She must have, like, forgotten that Lola and Lana were sleeping, Linky!" Leni replied, shouting for the same reason that her little brother was shouting.

"One of us should-" Lincoln began to shout back, but he stopped short upon seeing an irate-looking Lori stomped down the stairs and over to the front door, walking out the front door as well. A few seconds later, the loud music playing stopped, and Lori walked back inside, followed by an irate-looking Luna.

"What the bloody hell did you do that for?!" Luna snapped, a hint of the British accent she was trying to practice seeping into her tone. In response to Luna's snapping, Lori turned around quickly, the look of enraged irritation on her face making the ten-year-old budding musician take a step back out of mild alarm.

"How many times where you told to _not_ play your music while the twins were sleeping?" Lori snapped angrily, "Do you know how long it's going to take to get them to settle back down and go back to taking their nap? How can you be so irresponsible, Luna?!"

"Look, I forgot that the twins were put down for a nap, alright?" Luna replied, trying to calm down (it wasn't by all that much).

"How can you forget?!" Lori nearly exclaimed, "They're always put down for a nap at this time of day! You need to pay more attention to the time! The last thing any of around here needs is for the twins to be crying nonstop because _someone_ cared more about _their_ interests than the fact that we have a pair of babies in this household that need to be taken care of!" Lori's tearing into Luna frightened not just Luna, who was the one receiving it, but Leni and Lincoln, who bore witness to Lori tearing into Luna, as well. Never before did Lincoln and Leni, or any of the other Loud siblings for that matter, ever see Lori so angry.

Giving her musically-inclined younger sister a serious glare, Lori said, "The next time something like this happens, I'm going to do more than just unplug the chords to your equipment. Do I make myself clear, Luna?"

"Hey, wait a minute," Luna began in a suspicious tone, "What's that supposed to-"

"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR, YES OR NO?!" Lori bellowed, not only interrupting Luna in the process, but startling her, Leni and Lincoln all at once. What made Lori's behavior really unsettling was the visage of anger on her face.

Never did the younger Loud siblings ever see Lori so angry.

"C-crystal," Luna replied, her bluster having been torn down in the face of Lori's wrath.

"Good," Lori remarked, calming down a little. Pointing at Luna, Lori continued in a serious tone, "It's bad enough that your music startled me when I was talking on the phone to Megan. I don't need crying from Lola and Lana thrown into the mix either, especially since they're babies that can't help it." Lori then turned around and walked back up the stairs. When she was gone, Leni and Lincoln walked up to Luna. Lucy, as per usual, followed Lincoln.

"With all due respect, Lori has a point about your music being played when Lola and Lana are trying to sleep not being a good idea," Leni remarked to her musically-inclined younger sister.

"But did you hear that last part?" Luna replied as she regained her bravado. Pointing up the staircase, Luna continued in a tone of indignation, "She was more upset about her talk on the phone with her friend being interrupted than she was about me waking up the twins!"

"Well there was that time where mom scolded you because you played your music while she was talking on the phone," Lincoln said.

"Yeah, I'll admit to that," Luna remarked, "But there's a key difference between the time involving mom and the time involving Lori just now." Pointing up the staircase again, Luna continued in the same tone of indignation, "Lori, unlike mom, actually _threatened_ me."

"Threatened?" Leni repeated, sounding like she wasn't believing what she was hearing.

"She said that she'd do more than just unplug my equipment," Luna pointed out, "If that's not a threat, I don't know what is!"

"Lori…must be having a really bad day, Luna," Lincoln defended, sounding somewhat timid, "You might want to cut her some slack."

"Yeah, you should ease up on her," Leni remarked.

"Pfft, whatever," Luna said, walking up the stairs to go to her and Luan's room.

After Luna had disappeared up the stairs, Lincoln turned his attention to look up to Leni. "Is…is Lori going to be okay, Leni?" the sole loud boy asked, sounding mildly concerned.

"Lori is just having a really bad day," Leni replied in as reassuring of a tone as she could do, "It's just like you thought, Linky." Gently ruffling the top of her little brother's head, Leni said, "There's, like, no need to worry." His fashionable older sister's words of reassurance, along with the affectionate gesture of her ruffling the top of his head, did a lot to lift Lincoln's spirits.

"Thanks, Leni," Lincoln replied, looking up to Leni with an appreciative smile on his six-year-old face. Lucy also looked up to Leni, although that was mostly because she was copying Lincoln. Even so, to have her little siblings, Linky especially, look up to her like this made Leni feel…Leni wasn't quite sure how to describe how she felt, but what she did know was that it was a good feeling.

Is this what Lori felt whenever Lincoln showed how he felt she (Lori) was the best older sister ever?

* * *

Later that afternoon, Leni was in the nursery; the twins were finally done with their nap, and were now playing on the floor. Thank goodness Linky came up with the idea of putting specialized hairclips in the respective hair of Lola and Lana; Leni would have otherwise been unable to tell which twin was which. It also helped Leni in making sure which plushy to give to Lola when the baby with the tiara hairclip began to get fussy.

"There we go," Leni said to the twins, "Now that you both have-" Leni was cut off when cries of complaint from Lynn came from the backyard. Is was loud enough that it caught Leni's attention; Lola and Lana both heard the cries of complaint from their athletic older sister as well, but neither baby did anything other than look confused. Curious as to what was going on, Leni, after getting Luna to look after the twins, went down the stairs, over to the door in the kitchen that led into the backyard, and went into the backyard itself. When she got there, she saw Lynn trying to get into an argument with Lori. "What's, like, going on?" Leni asked.

Pointing to Lori, Lynn said in a tone of complaint, "She took my soccer ball and threw it onto the roof of the house! Now I can't play soccer!"

"You have been warned time and again to _not_ hurt the rest of us when we end up playing with you in the backyard," Lori said to the eight-year-old athletic Loud girl in a scolding tone, "You're lucky that Luan can handle getting hit in the side of her head with a soccer ball a lot better than Lincoln or Lucy." Confused as to what Lori was saying, Leni looked over and saw Luan holding an ice pack to the right side of her head. Luan was hurt enough that there were some tears falling down the side of her face, but she wasn't actually crying, per say.

"…Wow," Luan said through the pain, "Talk about a _header_." After chuckling a bit, Luan added, "Get it?"

"Wait a minute," Leni said, a bit surprised, and not in a good way, with what she was hearing. Turning to face Lori, Leni continued in the same tone, "Did you, like, seriously take one of Lynn's balls and throw it onto the roof?"

"Tell me, Leni," Lori began to say in a cool, casual tone, "Before I took the soccer ball and threw it onto the roof, was Lynn able to hurt the rest of our siblings with it?"

"Umm…yes," Leni said in an unsure tone, "But-"

"And tell me," Lori continued, interrupting Leni in the process, "Now that the soccer ball is out of reach, can Lynn hurt the rest of us with it?"

"Umm…no," Leni answered, realizing that Lori's actions had some logic behind it, "But that-"

"But nothing," Lori interrupted again, "Do you _know_ how many times Lynn's hurt the rest of us with her sports stuff? The only way to keep it from happening again is to keep it away from her!"

"But that's not fair!" Lynn complained.

"Is it fair that the rest of us get hurt?" Lori snapped as she quickly turned to face Lynn, "Seriously, Lynn. Every time one of us plays with you, we end up getting hurt!"

"It was an accident!" Lynn snapped back.

Scoffing in a tone of disbelief, Lori said, "Really? All of the times were any of the rest of us play with you, and the person in question gets hurt, are all accidents?"

"Yes!" Lynn replied.

" _Every single time_ , Lynn," Lori went on, " _Every single time_ one of the rest of us plays with you, the person in question ends up getting hurt." Crossing her arms over her chest, Lori continued in the same tone of disbelief, "Us getting hurt whenever one of us plays with you is as accidental as me throwing the soccer ball onto the roof."

"That wasn't an accident!" Lynn snapped, "You threw my soccer ball onto the roof on purpose!"

"Exactly," Lori said as she gave her athletic younger sister a knowing, serous glare. The tone that Lori had just used, the glare she was giving, the idea that her last word implied, all of it made the sporty eight-year-old Loud sister take a step back, a look of being wounded on an emotional level plastered across her face. Walking past Lynn and Leni to head back into the house, Lori said with a hint on condensation in her tone, "Try not to have anymore 'accidents', Lynn, okay?" Lori closed the back door behind her, leaving Leni, Lynn and a still-hurt Luan in the backyard.

Leni turned her attention to Lynn, and saw the hurt look on the eight-year-old's face. "Lynn?" Leni said in a concerned tone, "Are you, like, okay?"

"Do…do you think I hurt our siblings who play with me on purpose?" Lynn asked, clearly looking like the idea of actually physically hurting her siblings _intentionally_ upset her.

"Lori's…" Leni began, sounding like she very mildly didn't believe what she was actually going to say, "…Lori's just having a bad day is all."

"Well my day is really bad now," Lynn said in an upset tone, "My soccer ball is on the roof."

"Oh, come on, Lynn," Leni said, clearly sounding like she was trying to cheer Lynn up, "You don't need your soccer ball to have fun! You have other balls to play with!"

"…I guess," Lynn replied, still sounding a little pouty. Giving Leni a mildly unsure look, Lynn asked, "You wanna throw my football around with me?"

"Sure, why not?" Leni replied, her tone enthusiastic. Having another sibling agree to play with her made the eight-year-old athlete cheer up a little.

* * *

Leni did have a little fun playing with Lynn, but they merely tossed Lynn's football back and forth for about ten minutes. Lynn didn't put a whole lot of effort into any of her throws, Leni could tell. The sporty Loud sibling must still be bummed about what Lori did earlier, not to mention probably being afraid of hurting another sibling, only for Lori, in thinly veiled words, to accuse Lynn of having once again hurt a sibling on purpose.

Lori must be having a _really_ bad day if she's acting as angry as she is. Leni wondered if there was anything she could do to help Lori calm down and become the sweet and loving older sister that she always knew her as. As Leni contemplated on this, she heard one of her younger siblings cry out. However, this occasion set a degree of fear into Leni's eleven-year-old heart, especially considering the fact that it was Lincoln who she heard cry out.

Leni ran up the stairs and over to her and Lori's bedroom, as she heard Lincoln's cry come from that general direction. When Leni got there, what she saw shocked her; Lincoln, sitting on the floor, was actually crying. Lori was standing over him, a clearly angry look on her face, not to mention a certain degree of annoyance seeping into her angry visage.

"How much clearer do I have to make it, twerp?" Lori snapped at the sole Loud boy, "Stay out of my room! The next time I catch you in here, I will _literally_ -"

"HEY!" Leni exclaimed, getting the attention of her siblings that were in the hallway. Walking forward, Leni said to her older sister in a frim and disappointed tone, "Lori, I don't care how bad of a day you might be having! Doing this to Linky, or any of the things you've, like, done to our younger sisters for that matter, is totes not excusable! And why is Linky no longer allowed in our room, huh? You've never had a problem with Linky coming into our room before! Why are you, like, suddenly changing you mind right now, huh?!"

"Leni, this is literally the last thing I need from you right now," Lori growled as she rubbed the temples of her head, "I just had to-"

"Lori!" the firm voice of Rita, the Loud family matriarch, called from the first floor, "Get down here right now! Lynn just told me you threw her soccer ball onto the roof!"

Sighing in an annoyed tone, Lori muttered, "And now Lynn has to be a tattle-tale just because I'm keeping her from being able to hurt us with her soccer ball." Pointing to Lincoln, Lori said as she walked to the stairs, "Remember what I said, twerp." After Lori disappeared down the stairs, Leni turned to face where Lincoln was sitting on the floor. Walking over to her little brother, Leni bent over and helped Lincoln up.

"Are you okay, Linky?" Leni asked.

"Why is Lori mean now?" Lincoln asked, clearly looking like he was going to cry, "She…she never acted like this before."

"I…" Leni said, but she stopped short, gently shook her head. "…I, like, have no idea what to tell you about that, Linky." Gently throwing her arms around Lincoln, Leni drew him into a soft, warm, reassuring hug. "But what I do know what to tell you," Leni continued, "Is that not _all_ of us have turned into meanie-pants sisters who like pushing the rest of our siblings around." The sole Loud boy, still emotionally conflicted due to his oldest sister's sudden change in attitude, turned to face Leni, buried his face into her chest, threw his arms around Leni so he could hug her, and began to cry.

The ditzy Loud sister was beyond heartbroken to hear her sweet little brother crying like this. It was, like, the single worst sound that Leni ever heard. She wanted this crying to stop, so she did the only thing she figured would work; she continued to hug Linky.

Lucy waddled up and threw her arms around Lincoln to hug him from behind.

END, AWKWARD HERO CHAPTER TEN

Author's notes:

…And here we begin to see Lori act like the kind of girl that most of us know her as. Anywho, I'm sorry if saying this will upset any of you, but the next chapter of this story (which will be chapter eleven) will be the last. It _might_ be shorter than the average chapter length for chapters before it, as it will just be wrapping things up here. However, I do promise that the next chapter, as well as this story as a whole, will have a happy ending.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Awkward Hero

Chapter eleven: Past Regrets

Seventeen-year-old Lori Loud couldn't believe it; the Santiagos had actually moved _back_ to Royal Woods! They had originally moved to the next state over to live with relatives, and even though this was just a three-hour drive, Lori still didn't like the fact that she was out of cuddle distance of Bobby Santiago, the seventeen-year-old son of the family and Lori's Boo-Boo Bear. Not only did the Santiagos move back to Royal Woods, but their relatives the Casagrandes came with them!

Granted, when Lori heard _why_ the Santiago-Casagrande family moved to Royal Woods, she literally wished that they had moved to Royal Woods under completely different circumstances. Lori couldn't believe what her Boo-Boo Bear and his family had gone through. It made Lori's heart ache to know what happened, which was all the more reason why Lori wanted to be there for her Bobby Boo-Boo Bear as much as possible. It did lift Lori's spirits to know that she won't be alone in backing Bobby and his folks when they need it.

In fact, in the Loud family's backyard, an entire party had been set up, a sort-of welcome to the neighborhood kind-of shindig. All of Lori's siblings, aside from baby Lily who was put down for a nap, was in the backyard. Not only that, but all of the Ace siblings, who are friends with the Louds, were at the party as well.

A few other choice guests were there, such as Lynn's friends Ulfric Aesir and Mitzie Cornwell, Lincoln's friends Clyde McBride, Rusty Spokes, Liam and Zach, Rusty's younger brother Rocky (who Lucy invited), Benny and Maggie who were invited by Luan, Luna's girlfriend Sam, and Winston and Skippy, the respective crushes of Lola and Lana.

And this is saying nothing of the friends that Lori herself also invited; in addition to her friend Allison Ace, who came with the rest of the Ace siblings, Lori invited two of her friends; Trixie Goldman and Carol Pingrey. It was natural that Lori would want to invite Carol, given that the two girls have long since abandoned their rivalry and became friends. And Trixie, who currently lives with her Aunt Tara since her dad was arrested five years ago (Mr. Goldman is still in jail), was likewise able to make it. Trixie looked a bit different from when she was twelve; the seventeen-year-old former rich girl wore her hair in a long hairstyle that seemed as casual as Luna's short pixie cut, she wore a red unbuttoned shirt over a black t-shirt, a pair of jeans (held up with a belt) and a pair of sneakers.

"So, Lori, tell me," Trixie said as she, Carol and Allison talked to Lori off to the side, "When are Bobby, his younger sister and their cousins getting here?"

Gently shaking her head, Lori replied, "I have no clue, although I did call Bobby about-"

"Hey, babe!" Bobby's voice called out, getting everyone in the backyard to turn and see Bobby enter the backyard from a gate along the side of the house, his younger sister Ronnie Anne following behind him, "Did you miss me?" Without missing a beat, Lori ran over and threw her arms around her Boo-Boo Bear's shoulder.

"Oh, Bobby," Lori said, "I really wish this was under completely different circumstances. What your family went through is literally the worst thing ever!"

"Yeah, we're still kind of trying to deal with it," Bobby remarked, sounding a bit resigned, "Although it's great that you and everyone else who cares about us wants to give us a helping hand. You have no idea how much it means to us."

"Hey, sorry for interrupting," Lincoln began as he walked forward, "But didn't you say you were bringing your cousins along? Where are they?"

"My mom and grandparents didn't want Carlitos to come to the party, as they think it'd be too overstimulating for a two-year-old like him," Ronnie Anne explained. With a sigh, Ronnie Anne continued, "As for the rest of them, they…they just didn't feel like coming. I think we should respect their decision." The sole Loud boy knew what Ronnie Anne was getting at, so he decided to let things be.

"A shame that none of them could have come," Trixie remarked as she walked forward, "But we shouldn't let that get us down."

"Lincoln's older sister's friend has a point," Rusty remarked from where he stood, "I mean, we got a party here, so let's party!" The other party guests all cheered, pumping fists into the air. Bobby and Ronnie Anne, knowing that everyone was cheering for them, couldn't help but smile due to all of the support they were receiving.

…

And so, the partying commenced. There was even a bit of dancing, although Aggro blew everyone else who tried to dance out of the water by doing a one-handed handstand with his right hand, keeping his balance while gripping his left foot with his left hand, and then going onto his back and spinning around like a top, then going onto his head and spinning around; Leni and a few others were even cheering the male Ace twin on as he danced.

While everyone else was in the backyard, Lori had to excuse herself to go use the bathroom. After she walked out of the bathroom, she heard some sort of crashing sound come from her and Leni's bedroom, so she headed inside to investigate. As it turned out, the family cat Cliff had somehow managed to open the drawer to Lori's nightstand and jumped into it, the force of his jumping into the open drawer causing the drawer to come out the rest of the way and fall onto the floor of the bedroom.

"Dang it, Cliff," Lori said in a mildly annoyed tone as the cat scampered off after picking himself up. As she walked over to the mess that was the spilled contents of her nightstand drawer, Lori began to pick everything up. As she picked the items up one by one, Lori came across something that made her take pause. Gently, she reached forward and collected the item that she found; it was one of the beaded bracelets from back during Lori's 'awkward phase', as the seventeen-year-old referred to her tween years as. However, this particular beaded bracelet caught her attention, and for more than one reason.

Using beads that had letters on them, the bracelet spelled out 'Big Sister', and there was a heart-shaped bead between the two words. Lori couldn't believe that she still had this thing, but upon seeing it, picking it up, Lori gently gripped it as tears fell down the sides of her face gently. As she stayed kneeling on the floor there, having stopped mid-task as she was cleaning up the mess that Cliff made, Lori heard a familiar voice call out from behind, "What's going on here, Lori?"

Turning around, Lori saw her friends Carol, Allison and Trixie standing there. It had been Carol who spoke up. "Did you make some sort mess here?" Carol asked, her tone sounding concerned. Stepping forward, Carol said, "If you want, I'd be happy to help you straighten things up her a little bit."

"No, it's nothing, girls," Lori said to her friends as a whole as she got up, "My family's cat was just being mischievous, is all."

"You've been crying, I noticed," Allison remarked as she crossed her arms over her chest, "I can only assume that you're crying out of happiness now that Bobby is back here in Royal Woods?"

"Well, I am happy that my Boo-Boo Bear is back," Lori began to explain, "But that isn't why I was crying." Holding out her hand to show her friends the beaded bracelet she found, Lori said, "I was crying because I found this."

"…That looks like one of those beaded bracelet thingies you made back during the early parts of when we were in middle school," Allison noted.

"Yes, it is," Lori confirmed, "But this particular bracelet…it was made by my younger brother, who gave it to me when he was done making it. He was only six at the time."

"Aww," Trixie said in a heart touched tone, "That sounds so sweet!"

"…Yeah…" Lori replied as she slipped the beaded bracelet into her empty left front pocket. Turning back around, Lori bent down and picked up the rest of her nightstand drawer's spilled contents, put them in the drawer, then set the drawer on her bed. "I'll take care of the drawer later," Lori remarked. Turning to face her friends, Lori continued, "Anywho, we got a party to get back to."

"Aye, verily," Allison said in a tone of agreement, "There's plenty to eat and drink, and I intend to get my fill!"

"That reminds me," Carol said as she turned to face Allison, "Why did you bring one of your Viking drinking horns with you to the party?"

"The small plastic cups cannot hold enough drink to satisfy a warrior's thirst," the female Ace twin replied, "So I brought something of my own to drink with."

Lori sighed in a knowing tone, her sigh carrying a hint of amusement, as she and her friends all made their way back to the party.

* * *

The party was a blast, and aside from a mild incident where Rusty hurt himself a little trying to copy the dancing Aggro did, the rest of the party went smoothly. After all of the guests had taken their leave, the Louds went about the task of cleaning up everything. "Eww," Lola said in a tone of complaint and mild disgust, "I still can't believe that Skippy added cola to the punch!"

"What makes you think it was Skippy who did that?" Lana replied in a casual tone before gripping the edge of the punch bowl, bringing the bowl to her mouth, and proceeded to drink the rest of the punch that was in the bowl. The pageant winning Loud twin looked at her tomboyish counter part with a look of disgust as she watched her drain the last of the punch from the bowl.

Over in another area of the backyard, Lincoln was helping Lynn and Luan try and take down of party decorations such as streamers and balloons. While trying to help Lynn pull a length of streamer down, Lincoln lost his balance and fell backwards. However, before the sole Loud boy close to hitting the ground, Lori caught him. "Are you okay, Lincoln?" Lori asked after Lincoln managed to straighten himself out.

"Yeah, Lori, I'll be fine," Lincoln replied, "Thanks for the-" Lincoln stopped short when he noticed that Lori was wearing a beaded bracelet on her left wrist. "Where did you get that from?" Lincoln asked Lori as he pointed to the bracelet. Hearing Lincoln ask about something made Lynn and Luan turn to see what their little brother was talking about, and as such they saw the beaded bracelet Lori was wearing.

"…Hey, that looks like one of the beaded bracelets Lori made back when she was still such a big nerd," Lynn remarked casually.

"I'll literally get you back for that later," Lori said dryly to the athletic thirteen-year-old. Looking to the bracelet she wore, Lori continued, "And for your information, Lynn, I didn't make this particular bracelet." Pointing to Lincoln, the oldest Loud sibling continued, "He made it for me."

"I made it?" Lincoln asked, the confusion on his face obvious.

"Back when you were six," Lori confirmed as she began to explain, "You made it for me as a gift when you joined me for one of my bracelet-making sessions the night before I started the seventh grade." Walking forward to Lincoln, Lori got down on one knee so that she was level with her only brother, gently threw her arms around him, and drew him into a hug. "…I'm sorry about how big of a doofus I've been for the past five years or so," Lori said to her little brother in a gentle tone.

Lincoln, not sure what his older sister was getting at, nonetheless could tell that Lori was sincerely trying to be apologetic for past actions. Appreciating that fact, Lincoln began to return the hug. "…Apology accepted," Lincoln replied. The two Loud siblings, the oldest sister and the only boy, continued to hug each other for a while. Lynn and Luan, both touched by what they were seeing, stopped what they were doing so they could look on at the heartwarming display.

The heartwarming display of Lori hugging Lincoln.

END, AWKWARD HERO

Author's notes:

Just so you know, this story _isn_ ' _t_ set in the same setting as the 'Broken Mirror' stories and 'Restored Image'. Granted, Lori's past was brought up in the latter, but this is an entirely different deal. Anywho, to those who've stuck with 'Awkward Hero' since the beginning, I just want to say thanks for showing your support. Hopefully you all might be interested in various other Loud House stories that I'm working on/already have up. …By the way, it was Lana who added the cola to the punch. Also, yes, that was Beerus's dance from _Battle of Gods_ that Aggro did…and Rusty tried to do but failed.

Peace.

I was (and sort of still am) under the impression that the city that the Santiagos moved to is located in the next state over due to something I read on the internet a while ago, even though it was said in a recent episode (I don't remember exactly which one) that the city and Royal Woods are only three hours apart. I am working with a new theory that the two locals are located close enough to the Michigan border, with Royal Woods staying within Michigan and the city being located outside, that the city is still located in the next state over while also being three hours away. It's possible.


End file.
